PORT HAWKESBURY - Hot on the heels of three green-hydrogen developments in the Point Tupper industrial park and a pair of wind-energy conferences in Europe, municipal and economic leaders in Cape Breton are enthusiastic for the Strait Area's potential to become a major renewable energy hub in the months and years to come.

The enthusiasm came from the co-chairs of the Strait Area Offshore Wind Task Force. Richmond Warden Amanda Mombourquette and Port Hawkesbury Mayor Brenda Chisholm-Beaton, as well as Tyler Mattheis, the Chief Executive Officer of the Cape Breton Partnership (CBP) were all invited to participate in a green hydrogen panel discussion.

2023 has turned into a pivotal year for green hydrogen projects in western Richmond County. Federal and provincial environmental assessment approvals  are coming to Bear Head Energy, the liquefied natural gas project formerly known as Bear Head LNG, and EverWind Fuels, which assumed control of Point Tupper's former NuStar Terminals container facility in 2022. The latter project is now in the construction phase, which is expected to wind up in 2025 just as EverWind begins shipping energy produced by green hydrogen and green ammonia to global markets. 

At the same time, longtime Point Tupper operation Port Hawkesbury Paper (PHP) has also received government approval to develop a small green hydrogen operation at its own plant. While Warden Mombourquette cautioned against expecting these efforts to provide immediate energy dividends for local residents and businesses, she is confident that the potential for global energy sales could result in local usage, especially as the provincial governments seeks to end its use of fossil fuels and replace them with renewable energy sources by 2030. 

This week's episode of TELILE 24/7 also features a brief discussion with Mayor Chisholm-Beaton about recent complaints by Port Hawkesbury town councillors about delayed responses from the Nova Scotia Department of Public Works (DPW) regarding the four-year-old Destination Reeves Street pilot project. 

Although the mayor cautioned that the province has the final say on whether Reeves Street will keep its current three-lane alignment or return to the original four-lane design, Chisholm-Beaton is certain that the current discussions between the town and DPW "can have a happy ending" and that talks between the two sides will resume shortly.