Stikeman Elliott acted as legal counsel to Boralex Inc. and Énergir Inc. in connection with the development of three wind farm projects of 400 MW each for a total of 1,200 MW and related negotiations to form a joint venture with Hydro-Québec.
McCarthy Tétrault served as legal counsel to Hydro-Québec.
Upon completion, these projects will together represent the biggest wind farm project in Canada and one of the biggest onshore wind farm projects in the world. This was a very novel transaction as it is the first joint venture for Hydro-Québec in the wind sector and it included the negotiation of bilateral PPAs (which occurs very rarely in Québec).
This transaction was negotiated between the parties during a period of over two years. The proposed projects include Des Neiges Wind Farm – South, in the RCM of La Côte-de-Beaupré, Des Neiges Wind Farm – Charlevoix, in the RCM of Charlevoix, Des Neiges Wind Farm – West, in the RCM of La Côte-de-Beaupré and potentially in the municipality of Stoneham-et-Tewkesbury in the RCM of La Jacques-Cartier.