Dock workers loading a Goldwind nacelle to a trailer at the Port of Vancouver, Washington. Photo credit: Port of Vancouver USA.
Wind cargo volumes at the Port of Vancouver USA in Washington state hit 70,140 metric tons last year, up almost 2,000 percent from the 3,460 mt handled in 2019, as US West Coast ports continued to benefit from Canada’s commitment to renewable energy.
That renewables infrastructure is being transported along a high, wide, and heavy (HWH) multimodal corridor, a transport route developed by regional project logistics providers and stakeholders that stretches from the Columbia River inland across the northern tier of the US. The HWH simplifies shipping unwieldy wind components from the coast to remote Western Canadian wind farms.
Canada added 166 megawatts of wind power in 2020 and has another 745 MW under construction now, according to the Canadian Renewable Energy Association.
The HWH, which includes barging, road, and rail legs, was “invaluable for shipping wind energy cargoes in 2020," Alex Strogen, chief commercial officer for the port, told JOC.com. Vancouver served as a gateway and corridor for supplying Western Canada with globally sourced wind energy components, he said.
About 2,000 wind turbine components — blades, nacelles and tower sections — were delivered to Vancouver, including the largest single wind blades being shipped into the US, Goldwind's 77-meter (216-foot) blades, which are as long as the Statue of Liberty is tall, Strogen said. Manufacturers Goldwind Americas and Siemens Gamesa Renewables were the principal importing shippers at Vancouver, he said.
Alex Strogen, Chief Commercial Officer, Port of Vancouver USA.
The project cargo arrived via 26 ship calls, most of them G2 Ocean and Saga Welco vessels, Strogen said. Growth at Vancouver USA came during a year in which the neighboring Port of Longview and the Northwest Seaport Alliance of Seattle and Tacoma also saw increased breakbulk and wind volumes.
On the export side, Vancouver's scrap steel volumes were up 20.8 percent to 371,305 mt in 2020. Wheat exports were also up slightly for the year. However, steel slab and some bulk cargoes were off, and total tonnage for the port was down 10.45 percent to 7.37 million mt.
Despite the drop in total cargo tonnage, the port generated $50 million in revenue during 2020, up 14.4 percent from 2019 and the best year for revenue in the port’s 108-year history, Strogen said. He attributed the revenue jump to the high-value wind cargo.
Wind volumes in 2021 are unlikely to top 2020, Strogen said, as “last year was exceptional.”
Contact special correspondent Chris Barnett at chris@cbarnmedia.com.
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