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White House’s stance on renewables has ‘taken away a lot of opportunities’
By TJ Colello
Operators of a Nova Scotia marshalling yard that stores offshore wind components destined for the United States have a positive outlook despite the Donald Trump administration’s preference for fossil fuels over renewable energy.
Atlantic Canada Bulk Terminal is hidden away in the north end of the harbour in Sydney, N.S., but regularly welcomes imposing vessels ready to drop off mammoth components for offshore wind projects, like blades, monopiles and other critical pieces of infrastructure.
Most of the components make their way from Europe and are stored at the site before continuing their journey to offshore wind projects in New England.
However, the Trump administration has pushed to stunt the growth of offshore wind south of the border, which includes striking deals with developers to give up federal leases and shift their funds to fossil fuel projects.
Richard Morykot, vice-president of strategic development and execution with the terminal, said the current U.S. administration’s stance on renewables has “taken away a lot of opportunities we saw two years ago.
“Two years ago, if you were talking to me, we were in discussions with a lot of projects, and probably more than we could handle, but that’s obviously changed,” he said. “Whether it’ll come back, I can’t speculate on the future.
“It’s a business that’s been in operation not for a couple years, but for 25 years, so it adapts with the market. We’re not just looking at wind. We’re looking at what are the opportunities, because it’s an incredibly good terminal.”
The 118-acre site has a long history. It was formerly land that was part of Sydney’s steel plant that opened in 1902 and operated until May 2000.
More recently, the marshalling yard was operated as Provincial Energy Ventures, which shipped coal and other supplies for over two decades before rebranding as Atlantic Canada Bulk Terminal in 2024.
The terminal still ships coal from its 500-metre-long pier, as well as sand and gravel, but not as much of the fossil fuel as in the past.
KEY ADVANTAGES
Morykot said the terminal has several key advantages, including its location to support all proposed wind lease areas in Nova Scotia. That has set it up nicely for what the future could hold.
Last year, Premier Tim Houston unveiled Canada’s first four designated offshore wind areas off Nova Scotia’s coast. Three of the designated areas are south of the eastern mainland portion of the province, while the other is located east of Cape Breton Island. The plan is to unlock up to 62 gigawatts of offshore wind, roughly a quarter of Canada’s total energy capacity.
The initial phase of the Wind West project is to license five gigawatts of offshore wind by 2033. It’s estimated to cost about $60 billion for turbine infrastructure and new transmission lines.
In February, Nova Scotia and Massachusetts signed an agreement for the province to supply the New England state with clean energy from offshore wind. Hydro-Québec has also shown interest in tapping into Nova Scotia’s offshore wind potential.
According to the province, Nova Scotia’s offshore wind sector is projected to be a $4.6-billion industry within seven years.
BRIGHT FUTURE
Elisa Obermann, executive director of Marine Renewables Canada, said off the coast of Nova Scotia is ideal for offshore wind development, with wind speeds between nine to 11 metres per second. According to Marine Renewables Canada, offshore wind development in Atlantic Canada could create up to 6,000 jobs at peak construction.
Obermann said ports like Atlantic Canada Bulk Terminal will be important moving forward.
“There are two areas of infrastructure, ports and electricity transmission, that are critical for the industry to grow to the potential that we’re all talking about,” she said. “In Nova Scotia, and Atlantic Canada in general, one of the things that we are very fortunate with is that we have some deep-water ports that are very well established already.
“That’s not to say that there won’t be upgrades and investment that needs to occur in some of these ports to really be able to match the capacity of development occurring, but I think we are in a pretty solid position with the ports and infrastructure that we have.”
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