Institut de recherche d'Hydro-Québec

L'Institut de recherche d'Hydro-Québec (Hydro-Québec Research Institute), known by its acronym IREQ ("Institut de recherche en électricité du Québec", Quebec Electricity Research Institute) is a research institute established in 1967 by government-owned utility Hydro-Québec. IREQ operates from Varennes, a town on the south shore of Montreal, Quebec, Canada.{{cite news |first=Johanne |last=Gauthier |title=L'IREQ : leader de l'innovation technologique à Hydro-Québec |work=Choc |date=October 2007 |volume=25 |issue=2 |pages=26–29 |url=http://www.aieq.net/_site/documents/applications/pdf/ChocOct07-IREQ.pdf |language=French |access-date=2009-03-20 }}{{dead link|date=November 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} IREQ operates on an annual research budget of approximately $100 million{{cite book |title=Shaping The Future : Annual Report 2009 |author=Hydro-Québec |location=Montreal |year=2010a |isbn=978-2-550-58101-7 |url=http://www.hydroquebec.com/publications/en/annual_report/pdf/annual-report-2009.pdf |page=32 |issn=0702-6706 |access-date=2010-10-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605082430/http://www.hydroquebec.com/publications/en/annual_report/pdf/annual-report-2009.pdf |archive-date=2011-06-05 |url-status=dead }} and specializes in the areas of high voltage, mechanics and thermomechanics, network simulations and calibration.{{cite web|url=http://www.hydroquebec.com/technologie/index.html |title=Hydro-Québec Research Institute |author=Hydro-Québec Technologie|access-date=2010-10-09}}

In the last 20 years, the institute has also conducted research and development work towards the electrification of ground transportation. Current projects include battery advanced materials, including work on molten salts, lithium iron phosphate and nanotitanate,{{harvnb|Hydro-Québec|2010a|p=35}}{{cite news|title=Moteur électrique: percée majeure chez Hydro-Québec|first=Sébastien|last=Templier|work=La Presse|location=Montreal|date=16 October 2009|url=http://lapresseaffaires.cyberpresse.ca/economie/automobile/200910/16/01-911848-moteur-electrique-percee-majeure-chez-hydro-quebec.php|language=French|access-date=2009-11-18|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091203074451/http://lapresseaffaires.cyberpresse.ca/economie/automobile/200910/16/01-911848-moteur-electrique-percee-majeure-chez-hydro-quebec.php|archive-date=3 December 2009}} improved electric drive trains and the impacts of the large scale deployment of electric vehicles on the power grid.{{cite web|author=Hydro-Québec |url=http://www.hydroquebec.com/transportation-electrification/action-plan.html |year=2010b |title=Transportation Electricification: Action Plan |access-date=2010-10-09 }} Projects focus on technologies to increase range, improve performance in cold weather and reduce charging time.{{cite news |first=François |last=Cardinal |title=Une batterie dans les cartons d'Hydro-Québec |work=La Presse |location=Montreal |language=French |date=19 November 2008 |url=http://monvolant.cyberpresse.ca/dossiers/la-folie-de-lhybride/200811/19/01-802158-une-batterie-dans-les-cartons-dhydro-quebec.php |access-date=2009-03-28 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706175219/http://monvolant.cyberpresse.ca/dossiers/la-folie-de-lhybride/200811/19/01-802158-une-batterie-dans-les-cartons-dhydro-quebec.php |archive-date=6 July 2011 }}

During the 1980s, IREQ built and operated the Tokamak de Varennes, a tokamak device and at that time Canada's largest scientific project.{{cite news |url=https://lactualite.com/environnement/le-boom-vert-de-varennes/ |title=Le boom vert de Varennes |first=Jean-Benoît |last=Nadeau |date=2 June 2012 |newspaper=L' Actualité}} The system operated until 1997 and is now on exhibit at the Canada Science and Technology Museum in Ottawa.