Cape Breton container port proponent shifts focus to offshore wind development

SYDNEY – Proponents behind a 13-year-old bid to build a shipping container port in Cape Breton say they’re now focused on developing a terminal to support the offshore wind sector.

Novaporte, led by CEO Albert Barbusci, issued a statement Tuesday saying that as of last week, it had drummed up investor interest for the new proposal at Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Canada Investment Summit in Toronto.

Sydney Harbour Investment Partners, which is leading the project and is also helmed by Barbusci, did not immediately respond to an interview request Tuesday. And its investment partner, Toronto’s Fengate Asset Management, declined to provide more information.

Novaporte’s revamped website calls the new plan: “Canada’s North Atlantic platform for energy, trade, defence and digital infrastructure.”

The company said in a release that it wants to build an offshore wind manufacturing port on the shores of Sydney harbour that will combine heavy-lift marine infrastructure with manufacturing, logistics, maintenance and other parts of the offshore wind supply chain. 

“The wind changed everything,” the company’s website says. “As global supply chains shifted, offshore wind, energy security, defence and Arctic priorities and AI infrastructure brought new significance to Sydney harbour’s enduring advantages.”

The proposal is based on Premier Tim Houston’s ambitious plan to establish Canada’s first offshore wind farms, a  $60-billion plan that he calls Wind West.  

Cape Breton’s Membertou First Nation has a 25 per cent equity stake in Sydney Harbour Investment. Chief Terry Paul said the original plans for a container port haven’t been scrapped, but are going on the shelf for now. 

Instead, Paul said there’s a much better opportunity to support offshore wind development.

Paul said his First Nation has spent decades building an economy that creates opportunities for its people and the broader community. 

“We want to be partners in building the future of Cape Breton.” Paul said in an interview Tuesday, adding that the First Nation is interested in investing in Wind West.

“It’s just not simply watching major opportunities come and go, like the offshore wind opportunities. It is going to become a major industry in Nova Scotia, so we want the Mi’kmaq and the Cape Breton communities to be part of that growth right from the beginning.”

Houston has said Wind West could generate five gigawatts of electricity in its first phase and 40 gigawatts of by 2050. Massachusetts and Hydro-Québec have both expressed preliminary interest in buying power from the project, but the region’s transmission infrastructure is expected to require about $20 billion in upgrades.

The prime minister has said Ottawa is interested in supporting Wind West, which was also pitched at the recent investment summit. Nova Scotia is expected to issue a formal call for wind developer bids this year. 

“Novaporte and Membertou have spent more than a decade building partnerships and positioning Cape Breton to participate in that opportunity,” Houston is quoted as saying in Novaporte’s news release.

Novaporte has spent 13 years trying to build a 200-hectare container terminal in Sydney with capacity to handle about 3.2 million containers a year, but has had little success. The run-down railway connecting Sydney to the rest of Canada hasn’t been used in a decade. Railway restoration costs were pegged at $120 million in a 2023 report. 

Meanwhile, existing container ports, such as Halifax and Saint John, N.B., aren’t operating at their capacity, and the Port of Montreal is expanding as one of the federal government’s fast-tracked “nation-building” projects. 

Cape Breton regional council ceased negotiations with Novaporte on the container terminal plan in January. CBC reported last month that councillors had voted in favour of a new round of talks with Novaporte about using city land for its offshore wind plans.

The municipality did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 22, 2026.