For Immediate Release
March 30, 2023

econext is celebrating the achievements of its members in balancing economy and environment today at its Industry Awards ceremony.

“Actions in the fight against climate change continue to accelerate and intensify globally,” said Kieran Hanley, econext‘s CEO. “Our members are doing some world class things here in Newfoundland and Labrador that deserve to be recognized and be part of that story.”

The Honourable Bernard Davis, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, was on hand today to announce the winners of econext‘s industry awards:

• Cleantech Innovation Award – C-CORE
• Business Excellence Award – PARDY’S Waste Management and Industrial Services
• International Business Award – Port of Argentia

Information on the awards and all of the winners is found in the backgrounder below.

“Congratulations to our deserving award winners, each of whom is helping to drive clean growth in Newfoundland and Labrador.”

econext is an association of businesses that accelerates clean growth in Newfoundland and Labrador and works on behalf of over 200 members to foster environmentally sustainable economic development. More information can be found at https://econext.ca.

Media Contact:
Kieran Hanley
CEO
kieran@econext.ca

Backgrounder

Cleantech Innovation Award

econext’s Cleantech Innovation Award recognizes innovation at any stage of development in business and academia – from research and development, to commercialization, to refinement – of products, services, or processes that can mitigate effects to, protect, or enhance the environment. The award is judged according to the uniqueness of the innovation, the potential for positive environmental impact, and the potential for commercial application.

The winner of this year’s Cleantech Innovation Award is C-CORE.

C-CORE is an internationally recognized institution in earth observation, remote sensing, and oceans and energy innovation. C-CORE has been a key driver of and contributor to Newfoundland and Labrador’s innovation ecosystem, and that work continued this past year.

C-CORE has developed what it calls a Rapid High-capacity Test Apparatus, or RHITA, a technology that is becoming an important component of C-CORE’s research and development work. RHITA is helping to understand and mitigate the negative effects of icebergs impacting subsea ocean based assets. The saying “tip of the iceberg”, afterall, comes from the fact that we really only can see the tip of an iceberg and the much larger portion is under the water. What is subsurface is unknown, and presents risks for important infrastructure, present or future. This includes offshore platforms, pipes or pipelines, flexible flow lines, moorings, or cables on the seabed.

When icebergs make contact with such infrastructure, it can push or drag important components along the ocean floor. This is harmful not only to the function of the assets and the operations that they support, but also to the environment around it as well. To measure the effect of this interaction on the pipe or cable, C-CORE is utilizing RHITA. RHITA uses a cylindrical steel indenter representing a pipe, flexible flow line, or cable and pushes it into a large ice sample.

What happens next provides important evidence from which risk mitigation decisions can be made. C-CORE is able to provide guidance on how such interactions can be avoided, how assets can be designed or reinforced to better withstand such interactions, or even lower the risk factors associated with occurrences if the outcomes are not as damaging as expected.

Part of C-CORE’s larger Subsea Ice Interaction Barriers to Energy Development (SIIBED) project, this work is representative of the world-leading cluster of excellence that is present in Newfoundland and Labrador related to the environmental sensing, characterization, and monitoring of the environment. econext is pleased to award this year’s Cleantech Innovation Award to C-CORE.

Business Excellence Award

econext‘s Business Excellence Award recognizes a significant initiative or achievement of a business engaged in Newfoundland and Labrador’s green economy. This could include the completion of specific projects, business growth milestones, or a contribution to the community from a sustainability or corporate social responsibility perspective. The award is judged according to the initiative or achievement’s impact as it relates to economic growth and development, positive environmental effects, and public awareness of green economy and environmental challenges or opportunities.

The winner of this year’s Business Excellence Award is PARDY’S Waste Management and Industrial Services.

PARDY’S have been leaders in growing the green economy in Newfoundland and Labrador for decades. Its services are broad and include industrial cleaning, vacuum services, liquid waste transport, waste oil recycling, industrial water treatment, waste disposal brokerage, and bulk liquid organic organic waste treatment and industrial composting. The company is active not just in this province, but throughout Atlantic Canada and into other parts of the country as well.

PARDY’S has completed a number of recent projects which have helped open it up to new lines of business and new customers. In Pickering Ontario the company piloted the application of technology to address non-treatable water that was being shipping out of country for disposal. The pilot proved successful and demonstrated potential cost savings to the customer of $16 million per year. In Saint John New Brunswick PARDY’S worked under emergency conditions requiring rapid response in winter climate conditions to treat 63 million litres of ammonia and MEA impacted water for a customer. Right here in Newfoundland and Labrador PARDY’S facilitated the safe collection of 13 million litres of wastewater from the offshore, marking the first time in history that this waste was received and treated within the province. Moreover, a pilot project was recently completed which validated conventional phase separation technologies as an effective primary treatment method for spent drilling mud.

These projects, all executed successfully, have opened new doors for PARDY’S to provide services that up until this point had not been available. In the process, PARDY’S has made great strides to enhance its technological capabilities this past year. The company is capturing more work in the aquaculture and mining industries, has made recent acquisitions to expand its presence in Atlantic Canada – while simultaneously working towards advancing Newfoundland and Labrador’s composting industry.

PARDY’S mission is to be a premium Newfoundland and Labrador waste management corporation that delivers responsible, efficient, and sustainable waste management solutions to customers throughout Canada. It has been doing so for 30 years and continues to strive to do more. Congratulations to PARDY’S Waste Management and Industrial Services on being recognized with the Business Excellence Award.

International Business Award

econext’s International Business Award recognizes a significant initiative or achievement of a Newfoundland and Labrador organization engaged in international business activities relating to cleantech or environmental services. Initiatives or achievements could include export success, diversification into new sectors or markets, collaborative research and development, or the establishment of international partners. The award is judged according to the relative impact of the internationalization activity for the individual business and/or the industry at-large.

The winner of this year’s International Business Award is Port of Argentia.

It has been a landmark year for Port of Argentia. Guided by global trends in the energy transition, Port of Argentia embarked on an aggressive marketing and promotional campaign to attract renewable energy companies.

Highlighting key strategic advantages of its location and promoting Argentia as a viable location for onshore wind energy development and support to Northeastern US offshore wind energy, the Port strategically placed advertisements in regional, national, and international industry publications, attended key global sector tradeshows and conferences, and reached out to new international business prospects in the renewable energy space.

The Port’s efforts yielded results, delivering two significant contracts to become North America’s first monopile marshalling yard in support of emerging US offshore wind energy. In preparation for the arrival of monopiles, the port will see a total of $10 million in infrastructure improvements, including road widening, dock facility enhancements, and creation of more than 12 acres of laydown lands adjacent to docking facilities. These site improvements will position the port well for additional future investment attraction and generate significant economic spinoff benefits for the region, province, and country.

Port of Argentia also successfully attracted a partner for the development of Argentia Renewables, a proposed multi-phase wind energy-to-green fuels production facility to be constructed on Port lands. The Port’s team worked closely with Pattern Energy, a global leader in renewable energy development and operations, to create a mutually beneficial partnership to support the development and construction of the project over the next several years. The project is slated to begin on Port lands with a 300-Megawatt wind energy facility powering a green ammonia project (including hydrogen electrolyzers) for the purpose of export to global markets. Future possible phases include expansion of additional wind capacity on neighbouring Crown Lands, and expansion of hydrogen production facilities on Port lands.

Through its targeted international business efforts, Port of Argentia has transformed and positioned itself as a leading national hub for clean energy activity that all in Newfoundland and Labrador should be proud of. Congratulations to Port of Argentia on being recognized with econext’s international business award.