Northvolt battery factory is ‘excellent for the environment’: Legault

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REPENTIGNY — Quebec Premier François Legault said environmental groups should “applaud” the battery factory of Swedish company Northvolt, even though the project would not be subject to an evaluation by the Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement (BAPE).

Legault announced Thursday, alongside Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the two levels of government are investing $7.3 billion for the construction of the battery factory in St-Basile-le-Grand and McMasterville, just east of Montreal.

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However, according to information from Radio-Canada, the Northvolt plant may not be subject to a BAPE assessment, because its production capacity would be 56,000 tonnes.

Last July, the Regulation respecting the environmental impact assessment and review of certain projects was modified so as to avoid a BAPE evaluation for battery factories that produce 60,000 tonnes or less.

Questioned on this subject during a press scrum on Friday, Legault affirmed “all environmental rules will be respected” during the establishment of the Northvolt factory and the BAPE “does not apply” in this case.

“I think all environmental groups should applaud this extraordinary environmental project,” the premier said.

“It’s a factory that is excellent for the environment, all environmental rules will be respected,” he reiterated.

Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon said Friday morning the project should not be removed from the BAPE.

“In my opinion, when it comes to such important projects, the environment and citizens must be considered. We cannot just get around this aspect, especially given the size of the public funds we invest in this. That being said, that doesn’t mean investing in the battery sector is a bad idea, you have to do things right if you want buy-in, and then you can’t reduce the environmental criterion every time,” he said.

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Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, for his part, seemed not to rule out a federal government assessment of the environmental impact of the project.

“Quebec has its own impact evaluation system. We obviously have ours. What we try to do as much as possible is not to duplicate environmental assessments so as not to burden the assessment process. So there are a certain number of criteria that must be met for a federal evaluation to be put forward. We will study whether or not the project should pass through the prism of a federal evaluation. The Quebec government will follow its own process,” he said.

For Patrick Bonin, head of the Climate-Energy campaign at Greenpeace Canada, an environmental assessment of the Northvolt project is necessary, adding he has “more questions than answers currently,” and several details are missing.

“There are several issues, and for us it is important that the battery sector gets off on the right foot, and to do that, it takes a real public hearing where people will be able to ask questions, get their answers,” said he said in an interview, referring in particular to the BAPE.

Bonin also questioned whether the province has enough electricity to carry out the project without having to build other infrastructure, such as dams, that would have significant effects on the environment.

“It’s a niche of the future, batteries, that’s for sure, it has to be done well, it has to be produced as well as possible, that’s not the question. The question is how this project fits into the transition that Quebec must make with limited electrical capacities,” he said.

“For us, we just need to be convinced, to see what the impacts of this project will be, will it be socially acceptable, will it fit in with the other issues that must be prioritized, such as, for example, the reduction of GHGs in all sectors of Quebec for which we need electricity,” he added.

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