2020: Record Year For Duluth Port Wind Energy Parts

2020 was good for something: The Port of Duluth-Superior received and moved a record amount of wind energy parts.  The high number marks the second record-setting year in a row.

According to news sources, the Duluth Seaway Port Authority recorded 525,000 freight tons of wind energy component parts moving through the Duluth Harbor at it's Clure Public Marine Terminal.  That new record-setting number was up from last years high-mark of 306,000 freight tons.  Officials note that the last two years were a departure from what had been occurring during  the last decade or so; prior to 2019's record number, the highest freight tonnage was recorded in 2008 at 302,000 tons.

As important as the import numbers were for the Twin Ports was what those ships hauled back.  After unloading their wind energy parts, more than half of those ship vessels were loaded with product from our region - mostly grains - from Duluth and Superior or from Thunder Bay, Ontario. It's worth noting that the ships that didn't haul grain back were more-than-likely "specialty ships" - those configured as full-time wind energy part vessels, unable to haul other loads.

The majority of wind energy parts that passed through Duluth were bound for projects out west; the wind fields of western Minnesota and North and South Dakota were the end-location for most of the parts.

The positive numbers for wind energy parts helped to offset the decreases seen in iron ore and coal from the Iron Range.  The pandemic decreased production throughout most of the year, however there is optimistic relief on the horizon.  Deb Deluca - the Executive Director of the Duluth Seaway Port Authority shared: "It's been a challenging year for iron ore and coal. With an uptick in steel production (lately), we expect to see a little uptick in iron ore towards the end of the season". There is also hope in the news from U.S. Steel that their Keetac iron ore mine was expected to open this month (December).