Atlantica recently interviewed Denis Caron, President and CEO, and Jennifer Cleversey-Moffitt, CAO and General Counsel, for the Port of Belledune, to learn more about the Port and its Green Energy Hub project.
Q: Situated in rural northern New Brunswick, the Port of Belledune is one of 17 federal port authorities. What is the strategic significance of the facility to the province and the region?
A: The Port of Belledune is a modern, deep-water facility dedicated to facilitating efficient and sustainable global trade. Its operations emphasize adaptability and innovation, supporting industries such as forestry, mining, and energy with state-of-the-art infrastructure and specialized services.
Our staff and operations are committed to fostering economic growth by prioritizing environmental stewardship and community engagement. By leveraging strategic partnerships, it continues to position itself as a vital gateway for regional and international markets.
Q: The port has launched an initiative called the Green Energy Hub. Can you help us understand the economic importance and benefits of this Hub?
A: The Green Energy Hub is a specialized development district on Port lands welcoming green energy projects and complementary, low-carbon industries.
The Green Energy Hub is contemplating several major clean energy projects, including potential wind energy, hydrogen production, wood pellet production and in the long term, small modular reactors to provide energy to port-based industries.
The economic benefits could be realized during the construction phase with potentially billions of dollars of capital investment and high-paying jobs, anticipated to last approximately 13-15 years. The operations phases could last 30 years or more, providing significant direct and indirect jobs, tax revenue and economic activity for the region.
Q: The Port of Belledune has an important relationship with several First Nations. Can you help us understand the significance as well as describe the Relationship, Engagement and Consultation Protocol?
A: The Port of Belledune is in the traditional territory of the Mi’gmaq People, and we work hard every day to build strong relationships with Indigenous rights holders whether is be discussing Port operations or our future development plans.
This relationship is based on communication, transparency and trust, with an understanding that Indigenous voices must be heard, and economic reconciliation must be addressed.
In 2018, the Belledune Port Authority became the first Canadian Port Authority to sign a Relationship, Engagement and Consultation agreement with First Nations. The agreement guides how we communicate, resolve differences and conduct formal engagement and consultation about projects that may impact treaty rights.
We are committed to building strong, collaborative relationships and advancing projects for the shared benefit of ourselves and First Nations. Working together, we are currently developing strategies to co-manage the land around the port. We are working to build true partnerships with First Nations.
By directly involving First Nations in conversations around land use, we can make business decisions in a thoughtful and respectful manner.
Q: How is the Port of Belledune preparing the community for these upcoming projects?
A: We are including representatives from nearby municipalities and local communities in regular conversations about current operations and future development. We know the Green Energy Hub will bring large projects and big changes to the regional economy, which requires open dialogue with community stakeholders and rights holders.
To support this, the port has created a community-based committee with representatives from local municipalities, business groups, non-profits, First Nations communities and post-secondary education institutions to serve as a forum for information sharing, questions and concerns. We are sharing information about plans and potential projects with the committee, along with local business and municipal leaders, as it becomes available.
Building community support and a local labour force to help achieve the goals of the Green Energy Hub will be crucial to its success, and including community members in the conversation along the way will help ensure we are ready.
Q: Atlantic Canada will need leadership and vision to effectively transition to cleaner energy and take advantage of opportunities. It sounds like the Port of Belledune is demonstrating how New Brunswick can play a strategic role in the region. Can you describe how the port will become an energy enabler without environmental compromise?
A: The value of strong economic activity is recognized by the people who live near the industrial zone at the Port. They’ve seen dirty industry come and go. We believe our region is building the social license to bring heavy industrial activity back to the port, with the understanding that it will use cleaner energy sources to produce value-added products the region can be proud of.
We also recognize that the world is looking for strategic locations that have access to a deep water port, rail, trucking routes, ready-to-go industrial sites, along with emission free electricity sources such as wind, solar and nuclear.
We’re a bulk port handling about 25 different products. We believe if you add value to those quality materials, we can create new jobs, economic opportunity and sought after products that we can ship globally. These products will need clean electricity, thus enabling the energy sector.
With the leadership and engagement of First Nations and regional communities, there won’t be environmental compromise as we redefine northern New Brunswick into a Green Energy Hub.