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Energy: Hueneme, Long Beach, Seattle

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The Port of Hueneme last week successfully conducted the first operational and safety vessel test of its newly installed grid-based shore power system. The Port of Long Beach has awarded a $176,045 grant to install solar photovoltaic panels for electricity generation at a Long Beach Rescue Mission facility. The Port of Seattle will continue to offer incentives to ocean carriers and cruise lines to burn low-sulfur fuel while moored in Seattle harbor.

Hueneme: First Vessel Test of Port’s Grid-Based Shore Power System

The Port of Hueneme last week conducted the first operational and safety vessel test of its newly installed grid-based shore power system. Port crews were on hand to view this first vessel plug in, by Hamburg Süd’s M/V Cap Pasley, carrying fresh fruit for Chiquita Brands.

The initial test of "plugging in" a vessel is critical to assessing performance of the high voltage shore power system. It is also vital to ensuring all trained units including ILWU and ship operators become comfortable with operating the gear. The process tests the vessel’s ability to synchronize with and connect to the grid-based system. Hamburg Süd, Chiquita, Ports America, Southern Edison, project engineers, system developers, contractors, and port technical personnel geared up to make certain all protocols were in place and the inaugural plug-in ran safely and functioned properly.

This initial test was a success and a second major milestone for the Port’s Shore Power system. The first was the port’s successful load bank test in December 2013 which demonstrated the system’s capability to provide a reliable, steady source of shore side power for ships at berth. The port will host a formal ribbon cutting ceremony on April 23, when additional newly-retrofitted vessels plug in for the first time to the port’s other two shore side power units. The ceremony will be part of the celebration of Earth Week.

The major financial contributors to the project included the California Air Resources Board with proposition 1b funding, the Ventura County Air Quality Control District providing grants for engineering and Wells Fargo and Commercial Clearing House with a cash infusion from the port’s New Market Tax Credit transaction. The next phase of the project will be funded in part by the Ventura County Transportation Commission.

Long Beach Port Funds Shine on Rescue Mission

As part of its Community Mitigation Grants Program, the Port of Long Beach has awarded a $176,045 grant to install solar photovoltaic panels for electricity generation at a Long Beach Rescue Mission facility.

The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners approved the grant at its March 31 regular meeting. The community grants program, designed to improve public health by lessening the impacts of port-related air pollution, has awarded more than $17 million since 2009.

The Long Beach Rescue Mission’s programs, providing food, shelter and services to the homeless, will directly benefit from the electricity savings derived from the solar generation.

The California Energy Commission predicts the system will generate 55,715 kWh a year with an average daily of 153 kWh. At 25 cents per kWh this system has a potential value of $38.25 per day. That amount can potentially feed more than 30 people a day, close to 10,000 people a year. That’s more than 300,000 people being fed over the 30-year expectancy of the solar system.

"The savings from the solar system will go directly to our programs," said Mission Director Robert Probst. "We are thankful to the city of Long Beach, Harbor Commissioners and the Port of Long Beach for this great solar project."

The harbor commission also awarded a $500,000 grant to St. Mary Medical Center Foundation to retrofit its two boilers, which is expected to increase boiler efficiency by 7 percent, and lower power use by about 35 percent and natural gas usage by 3.5 percent. A $300,000 port grant went to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles for St. Anthony High School for a solar power generation system on the roofs of campus buildings.

Seattle Port Program Provides Incentives for At-Berth Ships to Burn Low-Sulfur Fuel 

The Port of Seattle will continue to offer incentives to ocean carriers and cruise lines to burn low-sulfur fuel while moored in Seattle harbor. Since 2009, the port has offered the At Berth Clean (ABC) Fuels program to ship owning customers who qualify.

The ABC Fuels Program encourages voluntary reduction of vessel emissions in our harbor by incentivizing use of low-sulfur fuels above and beyond the Emissions Control Area (ECA) requirements.

This year, the ABC Fuels Program will change to a "per metric ton" incentive for vessels that achieve early compliance with 2015 ECA requirements to burn =0.1% sulfur fuel while at berth. The incentive payout depends on the amount of fuel (=0.1%) burned and could be as much as $7,400 per qualifying vessel call.

Since 2009, participants have received more than $3 million in incentives to burn low-sulfur fuel while at berth in Seattle. According to the port, the program has eliminated more than 830 metric tons of sulfur dioxide emissions.

The 2011 Puget Sound Maritime Emissions Inventory showed significant reductions (since 2005) in sulfur dioxide and diesel particulate matter emissions from the Port of Seattle. The ABC Fuels Program accounted for an estimated 76 percent of the sulfur emission reductions.

More than 1274 vessel visits representing eight container lines (APL, COSCO, Evergreen Line, Hamburg Süd, Hapag Lloyd, Maersk Line, Matson Navigation, and OOCL) and four cruise lines (Norwegian Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruise Lines) participated in the program from 2009 to 2013. The program applies to qualifying vessels in port through December 31, 2014.

 

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