Cape Breton container port proponent shifts focus to offshore wind development

By Staff The Canadian Press

Posted September 22, 2026 2:25 pm

1 min read

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 issued a statement today saying it drummed up investor interest for the new proposal at last week’s Canada Investment Summit in Toronto.

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

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The plan calls for building an offshore wind manufacturing port on the shores of Sydney harbour and to attract anchor manufacturers and suppliers to the area.

Terry Paul is chief of Cape Breton’s Membertou First Nation, which has an equity stake in Sydney Harbour Investment.

He says there’s a better opportunity to develop a terminal to support Premier Tim Houston’s proposed $60-billion Wind West offshore energy project.

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“Indigenous and Mi’kmaq participation needs to be meaningful,” Paul said in an interview Tuesday. “Not simply consultation, but ownership, and investment, and partnership and long-term economic participation.”

Houston has said Wind West could ultimately generate 40 gigawatts of power by 2050.

Novaporte says the first phase of its proposal for an offshore wind hub could be worth US$1 billion.