Officials from the Port of Oakland, US Maritime
Administration and Pacific Merchant Shipping Association and other agencies gathered
Nov. 8 to mark the completion of construction of shoreside power infrastructure
at the Port of Oakland.
Shore power – the shore-to-ship connection that provides
electrical power to the ship, thereby significantly reducing diesel and other
air pollutant emissions from ships while they are at berth – is being
implemented at the Port of Oakland in a two-phase, multi-year program covering
11 berths. The port has completed construction of the new electrical
infrastructure system, with final testing of the system scheduled to be
complete before the end of the year.
The total cost for just the shoreside infrastructure was
about $70 million, with the US Maritime Administration (MARAD) and the Bay Area
Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) contributed $12.8 million.
“The Port of Oakland’s shore power project received federal
funding through a very competitive TIGER grant process because this project is
recognized as creating a valuable, sustainable, green trade corridor,” MARAD
Associate Administrator Keith Lesnick said.
An additional $20 million was awarded to the port by the
California Air Resources Board (CARB) and the Metropolitan Transportation
Commission (MTC)/Federal Highway Administration.
In 2008, the California Air Resources Board adopted a directive
to require reductions of air pollutants from ocean-going vessels. The rule,
commonly referred to as the “shore power regulation,” requires that all
operators of container, passenger and refrigerated cargo vessels that visit
California ports more than 25 times a year employ an emission reduction system
for their fleet by Jan. 1, 2014.
“In less than two months, container ships will be plugging
in at California’s ports as part of an estimated $1.8 billion industry investment
in shore power,” Pacific Merchant Shipping Association Vice President Mike
Jacob said. “Our members are investing billions of dollars worldwide in new
ocean-going vessels outfitted with the latest technology. We’ve been
retrofitting hundreds of existing ships that call on California ports and
installing the necessary terminal infrastructure for the 2014 transition.”
