The Official Saint John, NB Project Thread

[adamuptownsj]

Originally Posted by cdnguys

Cause nobody likes to shit on good news than SJ’ers. As for start up, the only article I’m aware of is Victory Advanced Technologies on Tim St that want to build electric motors. Unless I completely missed an article about another start up involved in EV batteries. If it is an EV battery plant, they cost $10B + with an intensely complicated supply chain - so doubtful a start up would be involved.
But I think something is up because they are very specific on certain properties including taking a piece of Alloy St - that’s pretty specific for just wanting to expand the park which is already mostly unoccupied overall. An EV plant would be interested in that area if they can be carbon neutral - wind farm can be expanded and maybe two or three wind turbines can power the plant. Also - why is Dillon Consulting involved in this process which really is just a civic matter?

Good point about the Alloy lots. Worth mentioning there will likely be some kind of conversion at Colson and not a full shutdown (which is crazy given the tightness of electricity supply). Also, the wind farm is planned for 15 total turbines-- PAOL helpfully has both the existing 10 and proposed 5 clearly marked.

[Pugsley]

Originally Posted by adamuptownsj

Good point about the Alloy lots. Worth mentioning there will likely be some kind of conversion at Colson and not a full shutdown (which is crazy given the tightness of electricity supply). Also, the wind farm is planned for 15 total turbines-- PAOL helpfully has both the existing 10 and proposed 5 clearly marked.

I wonder if this is an Irving Oil project? What would be the chance they'd be diversifying revenue streams with a new EV battery plant to off-set their carbon emissions? They'd have the money to do something like this, or at least strike a joint-venture. Perhaps this is an effort to bring new jobs and remain relevant as they slowly need to scale back on oil and gas?

[cdnguys]

Originally Posted by Pugsley

I wonder if this is an Irving Oil project? What would be the chance they'd be diversifying revenue streams with a new EV battery plant to off-set their carbon emissions? They'd have the money to do something like this, or at least strike a joint-venture. Perhaps this is an effort to bring new jobs and remain relevant as they slowly need to scale back on oil and gas?

My friend works at IOL and is hinting there will be a big announcement on the 100th anniversary of the company coming up, that is not about acquisition. At this point I’m only 5% convinced.

[NovaScotian]

Originally Posted by cdnguys

Cause nobody likes to shit on good news than SJ’ers. As for start up, the only article I’m aware of is Victory Advanced Technologies on Tim St that want to build electric motors. Unless I completely missed an article about another start up involved in EV batteries. If it is an EV battery plant, they cost $10B + with an intensely complicated supply chain - so doubtful a start up would be involved.
But I think something is up because they are very specific on certain properties including taking a piece of Alloy St - that’s pretty specific for just wanting to expand the park which is already mostly unoccupied overall. An EV plant would be interested in that area if they can be carbon neutral - wind farm can be expanded and maybe two or three wind turbines can power the plant. Also - why is Dillon Consulting involved in this process which really is just a civic matter?

Here is an interesting article about a potential EV Battery Plant in New Brunswick which came out today.

VW's PowerCo and Umicore eye New Brunswick for battery materials plant
2024-07-10

https://headtopics.com/ca/vw-s-power...ttery-55625875

[DyAm00394]

Originally Posted by NovaScotian

Here is an interesting article about a potential EV Battery Plant in New Brunswick which came out today.

VW's PowerCo and Umicore eye New Brunswick for battery materials plant
2024-07-10

https://headtopics.com/ca/vw-s-power...ttery-55625875

This was shared on Retail Talk & Share NB Facebook group. And I see that the initial person who said that an EV battery plant is being planned for the Spruce Lake Expansion area, has confirmed over on Retail Talk & Share that PowerCo and Umicore's potential battery materials plant is what is planned for the industrial park. He once again said that the community is fighting against it.

[cdnguys]

Umicore appears to want to purchase power for their operations from renewable resources, so it makes sense Spruce Lake is a location they can arrange a power purchase agreement with Saint John Energy. That along with a port to bring in the mined material and a railway to rail it to the customers in Ontario, it’s a really good chance we’d score this instead of defaulting to Moncton where the majority of new entrants to NB go

[DyAm00394]

Source Atlantic being sold to Lawson Canada https://www.country94.ca/2024/07/10/...lawson-canada/

[adamuptownsj]

Originally Posted by cdnguys

Umicore appears to want to purchase power for their operations from renewable resources, so it makes sense Spruce Lake is a location they can arrange a power purchase agreement with Saint John Energy. That along with a port to bring in the mined material and a railway to rail it to the customers in Ontario, it’s a really good chance we’d score this instead of defaulting to Moncton where the majority of new entrants to NB go

Rail is hard. AFAIK the ROW ends at Paddy's Hill and there's no way to get north of Galbraith, let alone both highways. I can only assume the barge terminal, port, and highway are driving this. The land is probably relatively cheap too.

[darkharbour]

Originally Posted by cdnguys

Umicore appears to want to purchase power for their operations from renewable resources, so it makes sense Spruce Lake is a location they can arrange a power purchase agreement with Saint John Energy. That along with a port to bring in the mined material and a railway to rail it to the customers in Ontario, it’s a really good chance we’d score this instead of defaulting to Moncton where the majority of new entrants to NB go

I don't think that is true of largely industrial, energy, and manufacturing operations, Saint John still has a number of strategic advantages and the skills base to be favoured for a lot of companies.

[Uptowngal]

Originally Posted by cdnguys

Cause nobody likes to shit on good news than SJ’ers. As for start up, the only article I’m aware of is Victory Advanced Technologies on Tim St that want to build electric motors. Unless I completely missed an article about another start up involved in EV batteries. If it is an EV battery plant, they cost $10B + with an intensely complicated supply chain - so doubtful a start up would be involved.
But I think something is up because they are very specific on certain properties including taking a piece of Alloy St - that’s pretty specific for just wanting to expand the park which is already mostly unoccupied overall. An EV plant would be interested in that area if they can be carbon neutral - wind farm can be expanded and maybe two or three wind turbines can power the plant. Also - why is Dillon Consulting involved in this process which really is just a civic matter?

An Environmental Impact Assessment is required because of the wetland impact. Dillon is doing the EIA.

https://www2.gnb.ca/content/dam/gnb/...ation-1635.pdf

[TitleRequired]

Originally Posted by DyAm00394

He once again said that the community is fighting against it.

Why? What are the consequences they are concerned about?

Or is this just being contrarian for no other reason than that?

[TitleRequired]

Originally Posted by adamuptownsj

I can only assume the barge terminal, port, and highway are driving this. The land is probably relatively cheap too.

Has the barge terminal *ever* been used?

[adamuptownsj]

Originally Posted by Uptowngal

An Environmental Impact Assessment is required because of the wetland impact. Dillon is doing the EIA.

https://www2.gnb.ca/content/dam/gnb/...ation-1635.pdf

So this is nowhere near as extensive as I imagined. Thanks for the link.

Originally Posted by TitleRequired

Why? What are the consequences they are concerned about?

Or is this just being contrarian for no other reason than that?

Has the barge terminal *ever* been used?

1) scared of jobs, scared of industry, scared of development. There's a few acres of wetland. Per the map linked above they're avoiding the Mill Creek feeders.

2) Twice? I think?

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by adamuptownsj

So this is nowhere near as extensive as I imagined. Thanks for the link.



1) scared of jobs, scared of industry, scared of development. There's a few acres of wetland. Per the map linked above they're avoiding the Mill Creek feeders.

2) Twice? I think?

I have been reading some discussions regarding the battery plant on Facebook (what a hive of scum and villainy).

The opposition to this thing is off the wall. I mean, Jesus Christ, all these people want lots of government freebies, but, at the same time they don't want any industry to generate the tax revenue to pay for these free government programs.

People just need to give their head a shake. Other battery plants are going to Ontario and Quebec. Don't they realize just how important it is to get a manufacturing facility like this someplace other than the industrial heartland of the country???

Fuck me...............

[Pugsley]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

I have been reading some discussions regarding the battery plant on Facebook (what a hive of scum and villainy).

The opposition to this thing is off the wall. I mean, Jesus Christ, all these people want lots of government freebies, but, at the same time they don't want any industry to generate the tax revenue to pay for these free government programs.

People just need to give their head a shake. Other battery plants are going to Ontario and Quebec. Don't they realize just how important it is to get a manufacturing facility like this someplace other than the industrial heartland of the country???

Fuck me...............

I call it "NB-ism", this defeatist nothing is ever good and will be a bad idea mentality that is rampant in this province. I left here 30 years ago because it was depressing. I came back 3 years ago to live here and while it isn't as bad as it was, it still exists. It's complaining and having a negative attitude on everything, just for the sake of it.

If we could put everyone on anti-depressants, this province would be a much better place, not to mention more economically powerful. LOL

[sailor734]

I'm really not seeing how this would be in any way a bad thing. Sure, EV batteries have some big negatives from an environmental POV but isn't that more about the mining?

Seriously, what's the reasoning for people to be opposed to such a plant?

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Battery Plant sounds good, electric car factory sounds even better. Could definitely be possible one day, and could make sense with Saint John’s rail and sea connections.

We’re sitting on top of the second biggest EV market in the world, the United States. There’s not a single Canadian city that can get ship cargo quicker to the entire eastern seaboard than Saint John. There’s an entire world of EV companies out there that could be convinced to open up a branch plant in Saint John, possibly right at the port.

I’d still like to see more residential development happen in Lorneville. It’s a beautiful, oceanside location, and there seems to still be ample room for development there. If we have suburbs right on top of Canada’s largest oil refinery, I see no reason we couldn’t see more apartments going up out in Lorneville. Would be convenient for people working out there, and could be a pretty desirable place to live in an apartment or condo with a nice view of the ocean.

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Originally Posted by Pugsley

I call it "NB-ism", this defeatist nothing is ever good and will be a bad idea mentality that is rampant in this province. I left here 30 years ago because it was depressing. I came back 3 years ago to live here and while it isn't as bad as it was, it still exists. It's complaining and having a negative attitude on everything, just for the sake of it.

If we could put everyone on anti-depressants, this province would be a much better place, not to mention more economically powerful. LOL

I’d say SJ has a very specific strain of NB-ism… because the self defeating no can do attitude is very prevalent not only amongst people who live here, but also the people who live outside of Saint John, especially those who live in the bedroom communities.

I’ve lived here for almost 5 years now, and while I’ve always had family here and visited, it took living here to really understand how prevalent cynicism and negativity is when discussing Saint John. The city-outlying suburb divide is so glaring, and so unlike what is found elsewhere in Canada. I’ve looked into the last thread on here regarding amalgamation and have to say the responses were sad like, “what’s the point of just making Saint John bigger” as if adding almost 50% of the CMA population, with the highest incomes and most valuable properties to the municipality wouldn’t be the entire point of amalgamation

Yet we’ve got Saint Johners who will stand up for KV and say it’s not fair to force amalgamation since “Saint John is such a mess”.… when the rise of KV is directly correlated with Saint John’s demographic implosion. It’s staggering to think of the potential that could be unlocked here if comprehensive tax reform and regional amalgamation were to happen at the same time.

I don’t get why so many Saint Johners and people from the surrounding areas have self self defeating attitudes regarding this city, when I think it has more untapped potential than almost any city I’ve ever lived in. It’s hard not to love Saint John, despite its many flaws and limitations.

[adamuptownsj]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

The opposition to this thing is off the wall. I mean, Jesus Christ, all these people want lots of government freebies, but, at the same time they don't want any industry to generate the tax revenue to pay for these free government programs.

People just need to give their head a shake. Other battery plants are going to Ontario and Quebec. Don't they realize just how important it is to get a manufacturing facility like this someplace other than the industrial heartland of the country???

Fuck me...............

Did you see the scary AI refinery in a bucolic Shire-like setting? That was my favourite. The industrial park extension per that Dillon report is nowhere near the Musquash watershed, which would POSSIBLY merit some concern, maybe. It's immediately south of the existing end of the industrial park at Paddy's Hill.