Longshore workers handling wind energy components in Vancouver, WA. Click on the image to read the article in the Columbian.
In 2001, the port imported just 6,387 metric tons of energy components. Last year, it handled 101,104 metric tons — 2,600 pieces of wind energy cargo in all — shipped from manufacturers in several European and Pacific Rim countries.
The port’s location on the West Coast at the junction of two rail lines gives it an advantage as wind energy development grows along the northern tier of States and Canadian provinces in the Rockies and Midwest, Smith said. Turbines from Asia take 14.5 days to arrive at the Port of Vancouver on their way to the Midwest. It takes more than twice as long to ship them across the Pacific and through the Panama Canal to the Gulf Coast.