New 735/120‑kV substation in the Lanaudière region

Hydro-Québec plans to build a transmission substation, which will be known as Jean-Jacques-Archambault substation, to meet current and future customer needs in the Lanaudière region.

The future Jean-Jacques-Archambault substation will be located between Route 337 and Montée Hamilton in Sainte-Julienne. The selected site is located near the 120-kV Magnan substation, currently in operation. The area of the new substation will cover approximately 30 hectares. Since the start of the project, Hydro‑Québec experts have evaluated several locations in an effort to propose different sites. However, only one area meets these main location criteria:

• Shortest possible distance from the existing right-of-way
• Flat and stable land
• Furthest possible distance from residential neighborhoods, recreational and tourist sites and observation areas
• Avoidance of highly exposed areas from a visual perspective (for example, clearings and agricultural fields)
• Furthest possible distance from wildlife habitats, bodies of water and wetlands.

Who is Jean-Jacques Archambault?

• In the 1960s, a young Polytechnique graduate from Repentigny came up with a bold solution to transmit the huge amounts of energy generated by La Manic: the 735-kV line. Jean-Jacques Archambault’s invention was a world first and is among the ten most important technological innovations of the 20th century.