On July 12, Los Angeles Mayor Garcetti and the Port of Los Angeles announced a series of clean air initiatives and clean technology deployments aimed at reducing emissions from the Southern California goods movement industry.
Chief among the announcements was the launching of Pasha Stevedoring’s “Green Omni Terminal,” a $26 million, full-scale, real-time demonstration of zero and near-zero emission technologies at a working marine terminal in Wilmington.
At full build out, Pasha is expected to be the first marine terminal in the world expected to be able to generate all of its energy needs from renewable resources.
“This is a Wright Brothers moment,” Pasha Senior Vice President Jeffrey Burgin said at this week’s launch event. “We’re going to be the proving ground the change the paradigm of how large industrial facilities can run on clean energy.”
The demo project will be a solar-powered facility using zero and near-zero emission cargo handling equipment to move goods from ships through the terminal and to clean truck and rail transportation to their final destinations.
The technology involved in the project includes a solar-powered microgrid, energy efficiency upgrades, zero emission cargo handling equipment, charging infrastructure and a dockside vessel emissions treatment system.
The project intends to demonstrate the operational and commercial viability of electrified equipment and vehicles, plus help California reach air quality improvement goals by reducing greenhouse gases and other harmful emissions.
Equipment to be used on site includes a 1-MW solar photovoltaic system; upgrades to two wharf cranes; an on-dock emissions capture and treatment system; four electric yard tractors; two 21-ton electric forklifts; and two drayage trucks.
In addition to Pasha and the port, partners in the project include the California Air Resources Board, which has provided a $14.5 million grant; Clean Air Engineering – Maritime (CAEM), which has provided technology; and Transportation Power Inc. (TransPower), which is providing battery-electric drayage trucks and yard tractors, plus a retrofit of Pasha’s forklifts and a top handler to run on electricity.
“The Green Omni Terminal Demonstration Project is a great example of moving forward to achieve greater emissions reductions from port-related sources and improving air quality for those who live in neighborhoods next to the port,” POLA Executive Director Gene Seroka said.
