Hydro-Québec, a 99% renewables-based and vertically integrated power utility, runs Canada’s most extensive fleet of hydro-electric power stations and transmission lines.
Planning, optimizing and efficiently managing this quite uniquely extensive grid has always been among the key challenges of Hydro-Québec.
To address this challenge, a dedicated research institute was created in the early seventies and has been driving ambitious projects ever since.
Scientists, technicians and engineers are among the 400 experts from a variety of specialties who pool their expertise in support of Hydro-Québec’s business units in all aspects of their activities, from electricity generation to consumption.
Year after year, our investment in R&D has been generating abundant ROI in avoided capital spending, avoided outages, improved decision making, risk mitigation, operational efficiency, royalty payments, etc.
With such innovative heft at its own dedicated service, one may ask why Hydro-Québec would invest in an open innovation program such as Free Electrons.
Initiated by Christian Bélanger, Senior director, Research and innovation, our participation with Free Electrons began in 2023, first as a “Trial Member”.
And what started then as an experiment soon began to bear fruits. Out of the 2023-2025 Free Electrons cohorts, Hydro-Québec, has piloted projects with 18 startups, and 5 more are still potentially considered. More than half of the completed projects end up with a clear positive outlook for implementation and value creation.
Quite early on, we realized the wealth of being connected with the vibrant energy startup ecosystem, but also with our peers from other leading utilities looking for solutions to the key challenges of energy transition.
While in our first of participation, the “Free Electrons Pilots” were mostly taken on with an R&D / lab testing angle, we gradually involved more business units in the annual process.
Now, most projects are done within those business units.
From the standpoint of the research center however, Free Electrons is a multi-faceted complement that brings a fresh perspective to the table.
Receiving the near thousand ideas and concepts submitted yearly to the Program serves to improve and fine-tune our technological intelligence. The wide array of AI applications we have come to see through Free Electrons certainly is a testament to this. Our researchers may have focused on the obvious weather-related ones as soon as AI became a thing, but how about system data integration, worker safety and ground penetrating radar?
The ideas developed by startups worldwide never cease to impress and surprise us. Sometimes they bring solutions to problems we didn’t know we had.
Having a well-equipped group of experts and several testing facilities also brings the capacity to influence the development of earlier-stage solutions towards options that help to address Hydro-Québec’s key challenges.
As for the more mature solutions, the research center can provide much appreciated de-risking before they are considered for business-as-usual.
So what’s in it for the startups? You rightly ask.
Well, clearly, many startups stand to gain everything from participating in projects with Hydro-Québec’s research center.
If you are an expert in your own field, whether it is materials science, superconductors, magnetism, AI, robotics or quantum computing, you may appreciate having the help of fellow experts in your domain who can provide an interface and develop common understanding with our business unit engineers.
Moreover, we have the infrastructures and test benches to test almost any energy related technology including test houses, connected technology lab, energy storage test bench, transmission and distribution test lines, robotics lab, climate chambers, power simulation laboratory, PV generating stations and many more.
In other words, if it works in our lab, chances are it will work in the field: what better gateway towards a wide scale implementation?
Moreover, a solution that was codeveloped/refined and/or successfully tested by an industry-leading R&D center is more prone to be adopted by peers of the industry, with other utilities in Free Electrons having a firsthand view of your success.
Up to 7 utilities for the price of one… What more can you ask for? 😉…
Maxime Godin
Senior delegate – Innovation partnerships at Hydro Québec
Maxime Godin is Senior Delegate for Innovation Partnerships at Hydro-Québec, one of North America’s leading utilities. Maxime is dedicated to forging strategic collaborations that accelerate innovation across the energy sector, supporting Hydro-Québec’s mission to deliver sustainable and reliable power.
With over 35 years of experience spanning public relations, strategy consulting, partnership building, business development, and emerging technologies, Maxime has played a key role in championing the innovation ecosystem within research and development initiatives, as well as fostering global connections for the industry.
Maxime is also an active contributor to the FREE ELECTRONS™ program, and a strong advocate for open innovation in the utility space.
Sylvain Labonté
Manager – Vision and Strategy
Sylvain Labonté is an experienced manager and engineer specializing in technological innovation, advanced materials, and strategic project development. He currently serves as Head of Vision and Strategic Projects at Hydro‑Québec’s research institute (IREQ), where he contributes to shaping technology directions and supporting key initiatives related to electrification and the energy transition.
With over 35 years of experience, he has developed recognized expertise at the intersection of research, industry, and technology deployment. Prior to joining Hydro‑Québec, he spent 15 years at the National Research Council Canada (NRC), where he held leadership roles in R&D, including as a technology lead and manager of advanced polymer composites teams.
He began his career in the field of composite materials and manufacturing engineering, progressively taking on roles in design, project management, and executive leadership within industrial organizations. Over the years, he has distinguished himself through his ability to build research partnerships, structure innovation programs, and bridge industrial needs with scientific capabilities.
Sylvain Labonté holds a Master of Applied Science in Composite Materials from the Université de Sherbrooke.
Laurent Lenoir
Expert advisor – Technological vision
Laurent Lenoir is Senior Technology Vision Advisor at Hydro-Québec’s research institute, CRHQ. With a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from ÉTS and deep expertise in power systems, long-term technology visioning and innovation program development, he contributes to open innovation initiatives by identifying and evaluating emerging technologies and innovative startups with the potential to create value for Hydro-Québec’s energy system. He has Linkedin major role in shaping CRHQ’s 2025–2029 master plan and in developing long-term technology visions that help align scientific expertise, innovation priorities and future energy-system needs. His work supports the assessment of technological relevance, maturity and operational potential of new solutions for the utility sector, helping Hydro-Québec anticipate industry transformations and accelerate innovation in the energy transition.
