The Centre de recherche sur les milieux insulaires et maritimes (CERMIM) and the TechnoCentre éolien (TCE) are signing a collaboration agreement aiming to share expertise to support the energy transition underway in the Magdalen Islands. In an international context in which the energy transition of off-grid systems is beginning to take shape, considerable expertise will be needed to meet the associated challenges on these grids that are generally remote, if not completely isolated from large urban centres.

"The CERMIM and TCE teams pursue common objectives in conformity with their respective missions. Such a collaboration agreement will allow our organizations to combine their know-how with the objective of developing energy projects and thereby meeting one of the most important challenges of our time", points out Mr. Marc-Olivier Massé, Associate Director for CERMIM.
The TechnoCentre éolien boasts technical and technological expertise in renewable energies, particularly wind, solar and energy storage. TCE also possesses research infrastructure and brings together a team of multidisciplinary scientists who will be able to work on energy projects for the Magdalen Islands under this partnership. In the next five years, in the context of a vast research program, TCE will complete a number of projects aiming to integrate renewable energies onto microgrids.

As for CERMIM, it has developed over the past several years an expertise in the energy consumption of the stand-alone grid of the Magdalen Islands. The CERMIM has also accompanied the Communauté maritime des ÃŽles-de-la-Madeleine in its efforts to adopt an off-grid energy strategy for the region. The skills acquired by CERMIM over the years translate today into an acute knowledge of the different dynamics that characterize the energy consumption and socio-economic factors specific to communities relying on a microgrid.

"TCE and CERMIM have complementary areas of expertise that will allow us to accompany organizations and businesses undertaking energy projects. This collaboration agreement will benefit the Communauté maritime des ÃŽles-de-la-Madeleine, which dedicates significant effort to promoting the energy transition of its jurisdiction. Evidently, other off-grid systems could eventually benefit from the knowledge and solutions developed with the projects completed in the Magdalen Islands", points out Frédéric Côté, General Manager of the TechnoCentre éolien.

We should emphasize that this is also a university-college collaboration, as CERMIM is a research centre affiliated with the Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR), while TCE is a designated college centre for technology transfer (CCTT) affiliated with the Cégep de la Gaspésie et des ÃŽles (CGÃŽ). Positive spinoffs for colleges and universities as well as student training are also anticipated in the context of this agreement.

The Centre de recherche sur les milieux insulaires et maritimes (CERMIM) | www.uqar.ca

The TechnoCentre éolien (TCE) | www, eolien.qc.ca