2 April 2024

09:00 – 09:45

Amphi 1

Charles Quintal

Charles Quintal has over 30 years’ experience in financing and financial asset management. For just over a year, he has been Chief Actuary of PensioGlobal, a provider of performance guarantees for real estate projects in North America. This is in addition to his activities as President and Exempt Market Broker of Quintal & Co. Financial Services Inc. At Quintal & Co., he worked in the energy sector, alternating between solar projects in Ontario and Japan, and biomass projects in Quebec. In 2023, he lectured in Toronto and Goa, India, as a consultant involved in projects for the extraction and refining of critical minerals and rare earths related to the electric vehicle sector. From 2008 to 2011, he chaired the Advisory Board of MAV 1, a $15 billion trust with 8 major financial institutions. Concurrently, as Associate Vice-President at the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Mr. Quintal was a portfolio manager with $12.5 billion in assets under management. Mr. Quintal continues his financing activities in the energy sector and in financial performance guarantees for real estate projects.

Biomethanization: why isn’t the industry taking off?

Services Financiers Quintal & Co assists its customers in securing investments for projects in various sectors, notably renewable energies and rare earths. Its client, Les Équipements Agricoles Sarrazin Ltée, offers products and services to help farming and forestry operations adapt to climate change. It proposes an agricultural model based on the values of regenerative agriculture to optimize the recovery of nutrients, carbon and energy. Over the past 5 years, the 2 companies have surrounded themselves with world-class experts to promote biomethanization and biochar to Quebec’s agricultural sector, with the aim of positioning it in the renewable energy and carbon sequestration markets. A letter of intent has been signed with Biogest America Inc. for the joint development and financing of a first renewable natural gas (RNG) project in the Saint-Nazaire d’Acton region, on the border of Montérégie and Centre-du-Québec. They are privileged witnesses to the constraints that hinder the development of RNG projects, and suggest a reflection on the role of energy distributors and government in the development of the renewable natural gas sector.