Hydro-Québec has reached an agreement with the Atikamekw community of Opitciwan and Société en commandite Onimiskiw Opitciwan (SCOO) to build a 4.8MW forest biomass cogeneration plant that will replace the community’s diesel-fired power generation.

Bioenergy News reports that in terms of the 25-year agreement, Hydro-Québec will also fund the acquisition and installation of a dryer at the Opitciwan sawmill. The sawmill is majority-owned by the Conseil des Atikamekw d’Opitciwan (CAO) and will feed the cogeneration plant.

The project is estimated to cost C$60.2 million (around $45 million), with funding contributions from the Quebec provincial and Canadian federal governments alongside investment from CAO and SCOO.

The Atikamekw are a First Nations people numbering around 8,000 across several communities in northern Quebec; Opitciwan itself has around 3,000 residents.

According to reports, the new plant will cut the community’s diesel consumption by around 85%, while reducing odour and noise pollution. The volume of wood products and diesel that need to be transported to and from the remote site will also be reduced.

The utility estimates the switch will avoid roughly 13,000 tonnes of CO₂-equivalent emissions annually — some 325,000 tonnes over the 25-year contract term — equivalent to taking around 5,000 cars off the road each year.

In recent years, Hydro-Québec has pursued a number of similar cogeneration projects as part of an overall strategy to reduce diesel reliance across the province’s northern and Indigenous communities.