Quebec energy shortfall hurts EV supply chain, says lithium CEO


The top executive of Sayona Mining., which just restarted a lithium mine in Quebec, says there isn’t enough electricity in the Canadian province to power the region’s mining projects.
The province that produces North America’s cheapest power faces a looming energy shortfall after years of marketing its hydroelectric power to US states and wooing industry with cut-rate prices. That poses a dilemma for the miners and manufacturers that have been lured to Quebec to build a domestic supply chain for electric vehicles.
“Only a few years ago, you wanted to build a mine, there wasn’t a question of whether you would get the power or not — it was guaranteed,” Sayona’s CEO, Guy Belleau said Thursday in a presentation at a mining industry conference in Palm Springs, California. “Today, there’s not enough power for all the projects in the province.”
The Australian company restarted its Quebec lithium mine in March after jointly investing $100-million into the project with Piedmont Lithium. The project plans to ramp up production over the coming year before shipping lithium to South Korean battery maker LG Chem and automaker Tesla.
Comments
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation