Hydro-Québec wants to buy plot of land left vacant by failed battery factory project
Hydro-Québec wants to reclaim a large plot of land south of Montreal left vacant by the Swedish company Northvolt after it went bankrupt last year.
The Crown-owned utility says in a press release it has reached an agreement to acquire the nearly 1.7-million-square-metre site but that the transaction still needs court approval.
The governments of Quebec and Canada had announced the $7 billion Northvolt project with great fanfare in 2023 and touted it as the largest private investment in Quebec’s history.
But construction on the battery cell mega-factory was never completed, and the Quebec government lost $270 million in the venture.
The project dogged the end of the Coalition Avenir Québec government, and the party was swept from power in last month's provincial election.
Hydro-Québec says it intends to use the land to build a new substation and establish a logistics centre.
“Hydro-Québec will be able to discuss the next steps with the local community and the public once the transaction has been formally completed,” the company adds.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2026.
Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
