Hydro-Québec is shutting down its battery division.
The Canadian Press has learned that the Crown corporation will announce later this Friday the closure of its Centre d’excellence en électrification des transports et en stockage d’énergie (CEESTE), a decision that will affect nearly 90 people, including 14 temporary technicians who will be placed on a recall list.
The others will be reassigned within the company.
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The Centre of Excellence was established in 2017 following the Legault government’s investments in the battery sector. Since its creation, CEESTE has generated about 100 patents, most of which have expired or are about to expire.
At the time of its creation, CEESTE was one of the few research centres dedicated to the development of battery materials in Quebec, but many other research centres in this field have emerged as the industry has grown.
Today, such centres can be found at seven universities. One of these centres, Volt-Age at Concordia University, is led by CEESTE’s former director, researcher Karim Zaghib.
More recently, in March 2025, the then-Minister of Economy, Innovation, and Energy, Christine Fréchette, announced the creation of the Laboratoire industriel en transition énergétique (LITE), which was closely associated with Hydro-Québec. LITE will continue the work of CEESTE, but the state-owned utility also intends to transfer CEESTE’s assets to the research ecosystem specializing in energy transition and batteries.
Hydro-Québec explains this decision by the need to focus its research activities on the three main priorities of its 2035 Action Plan: improving service quality, energy efficiency, and increasing electricity generation.
CEESTE represented only a small portion of Hydro-Québec’s research activities. Its main research centre, the Institut de recherche en électricité du Québec (IREQ), comprises two major facilities that employ approximately 500 people: the Hydro-Québec research centre (CRHQ) in Varennes, in the Montérégie region, and the energy technologies laboratory (LTE) located in Shawinigan, in the Mauricie region.
CEESTE was located on the IREQ grounds in Varennes.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
