By 2014, half the large container ships that dock at the Port of Oakland must shut down their dirty auxiliary diesel engines and plug into clean electrical power. And the port’s $90 million estimate for meeting that state deadline got a boost this week when the Air Quality Management District awarded a $5 million grant to help bring electrical shore power to three Oakland berths.
APL in Oakland
“Shore power is critical to both cleaning up the air and maintaining revenues at the port so we can continue delivering economic benefits to the region and state,” said Port of Oakland Executive Director Omar Benjamin.
Combined with investments made by APL and Ports America, the costs to provide electrical plug in to shore power exceeds $100 million. And that’s just the land-based effort. The maritime industry is also investing approximately $1 billion to retrofit their vessels.