I was in Sault Ste. Marie on Thursday and Friday of last week for the Michigan Port Collaborative conference, where much of the discussion focused on how to increase ship traffic in and out of Michigan’s ports, thereby generating local revenue and economic development.  I spoke briefly about the West Michigan Port Operators alliance and about the use of ports for shipping wind turbine parts.  In one of those strange coincidences that sometimes happen, on our way out of town, we saw a ship passing through the locks carrying wind turbine blades.

Windmill blades from Denmark en route to Canada via Soo Locks

The Chronicle Journal from Ontario contains an article describing the shipment of blades and other turbine parts that arrived on Saturday for the Greenwich Wind Farm project in Dorion, and which we saw passing down the St. Mary’s River.  In all, the paper reports, there will be 43 windmill assemblies and their 145-foot blades arriving from Denmark by three ships.  In the article, the port’s harbor master views the wind park as a significant economic benefit for the port and the local economy. These are not the first wind turbine shipments this port has seen, and the harbormaster said that “we’re hoping to expand on that in the future, to get contracts for Saskatchewan and Manitoba.”

It is clear that Michigan needs to move swiftly so as not to miss the economic opportunities presented by the development of wind parks in this region.