Minas Basin Pulp and Power Company Ltd.

A Hants County Success Story

Harnessing the Tides

Minas Basin Pulp and Power

Some things keep getting better with time. Founded in 1927, Minas Basin Pulp and Power is not only one of Hants County’s oldest and most established businesses – it’s also one of the region’s most forward thinking enterprises.

From its roots as a ground pulp manufacturer, Minas Basin has transformed itself into a heavy industry game-changer, becoming Canada’s first paperboard manufacturer to use 100% recycled paper in its mill operation, and more recently, a leader in tidal energy.

The Hantsport-based firm, which employs approximately 165 people has an array of activities including wind, tidal, wave and hydro energy, biomass cogeneration, carbon trading and consulting, as well as new technology that will transform recycled plastic into diesel fuel. But belying these diverse business interests is a razor-sharp focus.

“Our MO is that we look for ways to be economically and environmentally sustainable,” says President and COO Scott Travers. Faced with rising energy prices, the firm’s management started looking into alternative energy sources in the early 2000s. As it turned out, they didn’t have to look more than a few hundred feet beyond Travers’ office window, to the waters of the Bay of Fundy.

Travers says community support –from elected officials, community members and local businesses, also make Hants County a competitive base from which to launch operations.

Home to the world’s highest tides, the Bay of Fundy pushes 100 billion tones of water each day – more than all the world’s rivers combined – and is capable of generating 8000 MW of energy.

Convinced of the potential for tidal power, Minas Basin acquired the world’s only grid-connected tidal turbine technology in 2007. This helped Minas secure a 2008 bid to build the Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy (FORCE) – a tidal power demonstration and research facility in the Bay of Fundy.  FORCE is North America’s first instream  site. Currently four different companies, including Minas, will test their tidal energy technologies at FORCE. Meanwhile, the demonstration facility is installing $11 million worth of subsea cables this over the next year, which will connect the turbines to the power grid.

Yet this isn’t the only groundbreaking activity to be generated at the Hantsport firm. Minas Basin is evaluating technology to transform plastics into diesel fuel. Travers estimates each plant will be capable of consuming 5000 tonnes of waste plastic per year – roughly as much as Nova Scotia currently throws away each year.

Travers says Minas enjoys the benefits of drawing from a loyal and highlyskilled workforce – the company sees turnover rates of less than 1% per year. Proximity to the tidal resource is also a huge benefit. In addition, Travers says community support – from elected officials, community members and local businesses, also make Hants County a competitive base from which to launch operations.

A stable operating base and a forwardlooking business culture have helped this internationally-recognized innovator take the long view – and remain competitive over the long run.