Hydro-Quebec’s 300 MW solar tender oversubscribed

<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Canadian utility Hydro-Quebec has revealed the long list of bidders in its 300 MW solar tender. A total 60 bids were submitted with a cumulative capacity of 481 MW.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Canadian provincial utility Hydro-Quebec has announced its 300 MW solar tender is oversubscribed, after receiving bids for 60 projects with a combined capacity of 481 MW.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The utility’s solar tender launched </span><a href="https://www.pv-magazine.com/2025/05/23/hydro-quebec-shares-300-mw-solar-tender-details/" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">last May</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, offering long-term electricity contracts to new solar projects with a maximum installed capacity of 25 MW that can be connected to its integrated network by the end of 2029 at the latest.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The </span><a href="https://www.hydroquebec.com/data/achats-electricite-quebec/pdf/inventaire-soumissions-AO2025-01.pdf" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">60 bids</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> are spread across 14 of the province’s administrative regions. Hydro-Quebec says around 40% of the proposed projects involve the participation of a local municipality or an Indigenous community.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">An update on the utility’s website says bids will be evaluated over the coming months, with results expected to be announced during the first quarter of next year. The update adds that a maximum 300 MW of projects will be selected.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The tender is one of the first steps in </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Hydro-Quebec's plan to </span><a href="https://www.pv-magazine.com/2025/05/19/quebec-utility-targets-3-gw-of-solar-by-2035/" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">deploy 11 GW of clean energy</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> by 2035, including 3 GW of solar, first announced last May.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Last week, the electricity system operator in the Canadian province of Ontario approved 12 solar projects with a combined capacity of </span><a href="https://www.pv-magazine.com/2026/04/10/ontario-backs-12-solar-projects-totaling-915-mw/" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">915 MW</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> through its long-term energy procurement exercise.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Earlier this year, the Canadian Renewable Energy Association told </span><b>pv magazine</b> <a href="https://www.pv-magazine.com/region/canada/" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Canada</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">’s cumulative solar capacity could </span><a href="https://www.pv-magazine.com/2026/02/10/canada-adds-only-57-mw-of-utility-scale-solar-in-2025/#:~:text=CanREA%E2%80%99s%20latest%20data,led%20by%20Ontario." rel="noopener" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">surge to 21 GW</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> by the middle of next decade, up from around 5.4 GW today, largely driven by forthcoming utility-scale procurements. The association added that nine of Canada’s provinces are hosting forthcoming calls.</span></p>