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In 1990, Cascades, a Quebec company specializing in manufacturing, processing and marketing packaging products and paper mainly composed of recycled fibres, moves into the energy sector by setting up the first natural gas cogeneration plant in Canada . Through its Cascades Energy subsidiary, Cascades acquires Boralex, a joint venture founded in 1982 by a group of businesspeople. The head office is established in Kingsey Falls.In 1997, Boralex issued its first public share offering to finalize several acquisitions and strengthen its financial position. The company ended the year with an asset portfolio of 11 power stations with a total installed capacity of 62 MW.The next year, Boralex acquired La Rochette hydroelectric power station, its first property in France, and moved into the wood-residue thermal energy market with the acquisition of the Stratton power station in Maine.By the end of 2001, Boralex had 200 employees and 18 sites in Québec, the United States and France, for a total installed capacity close to 350 MW generated by hydroelectric, thermal and gas- and wood-residue-fired cogeneration power stations. In November 2002, Boralex took its first step into wind power, starting up its first wind farm in Avignonet-Lauragais, France.
In the early 2000s, Boralex took its first steps in wind power production in France with the commissioning of the Avignonet-Lauragais wind farm in November 2002.
Boralex continued its expansion in the wind power industry by entering the United States in 2003 with the acquisition of five small hydroelectric power stations in New York State, with a total capacity of 23 MW, and then in Canada with the commissioning in February 2010 of the Thames River wind farm, totalling 90 MW, in Ontario.
In the late 2000s, Boralex continued to expand in the wind power market. In Canada, a consortium of Boralex and Gaz Métro Limited Partnership/Energir, with the assistance of the Séminaire de Québec, got approval for two wind power projects, including the Seigneurie de Beaupré wind farms. Seigneurie de Beaupré began operating in 2013 with a total installed capacity of 272 MW, and remains one of the largest wind sites in Canada.At the end of 2012, Boralex terminates its natural gas cogeneration operations at Kingsey Falls, 22 years after the power station opened.
In 2014, Boralex acquires Enel Green Power France, including its plants already in operation , those under construction and its 310 MW projects in development. Boralex becomes the largest independent producer of wind energy in France. In 2017, the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, one of Canada’s leading institutional investors, purchases of all Cascades’ Class A common shares, making them Boralex’s principal shareholder, with 17,3%.The following year, Boralex acquires the Kallista Energy Investment SAS portfolio, increasing its installed capacity by 1,673 MW.
In 2020, Boralex enters the U.S. solar energy market with the announcement of an agreement to acquire interests in seven solar farms in California, Indiana and Alabama. The development of the company in the United States is ongoing. In 2022, Boralex had 1 GW of energy projects under development in the United States, including five solar farms totaling 540 MW of electric generation and 77 MW of storage selected under a request for proposals by NYSERDA, in New York State.In early 2021, Boralex issues its first Corporate Social Responsibility Report, “Beyond Renewable Energy” to highlight the company’s environmental, social, and governance strategies to align with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
