The EVLO battery energy storage hydro-Quebec subsidiary has just dismissed almost half of its employees, learned The newspaper.
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“Due to the reorganization of its activities, EVLO will keep 75 of its 143 employees, just over 50 %,” confirmed Louis-Olivier Batty, spokesperson for Hydro-Québec.
In total, 67 employees are thanked in Quebec, a person decided to leave by themselves and another is dismissed in the United States.
“EVLO concentrates its activities on the Canadian market and on the needs of Hydro-Québec, while keeping an opening for some other international markets, and stops its commercial activities in the United States,” he added.
A cross on the United States
After the sale of Cléo (charging solutions), from TM4 to Dana (electric motors) and its laboratory in Hitachi (high voltage tests), Hydro slows down its subsidiary EVLO.
“The marketing of products and services in the United States will be decided, but the delivery of current projects will be maintained,” it was announced in mid-June.
Hydro wants to “contain business risks” by being content with the Canadian market, keeping an opening on the international.
Five years ago, the chief innovation of Hydro-Québec and President of Hydro-Québec then, David Murray, had nevertheless bet on these big batteries.
“Within 10 years, our goal is that Evlo manages to grab 10 % of this world market ($ 384 million),” he said
“Extremely a shame”
For Innocent Kamwa, full professor in the Laval University of electrical engineering department, he “extremely unfortunate” to cut the wings in Evlo.
“The whole strategy was based on the United States because the progression of renewable energies was dazzling, especially in California,” analyzes the expert.
“New York state was also a very promising market for batteries,” he says.
Normand Mousseau, professor at the University of Montreal and scientific director of the Trottier Energy Institute, believes that Evlo was not competitive enough.
“The batteries, they were bought from Sony, so all the Hydro-Québec technology was the management of the system,” he concludes.
