Ports, vessels get ready for new statewide regulation to lower emissions through shore power

2014-01-02

When the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach adopted a groundbreaking plan seven years ago to clear the pollution spewed by operations at the nation’s busiest seaports, the move sparked a sea of changes for the industry.

Among those changes, inspired by the San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan adopted in 2006, was one of the state’s most aggressive mandates toward significantly lowering ship emissions.

The 2007 California Air Resources Board’s At-Berth Regulation, which goes into effect on Wednesday, requires container, passenger and refrigerated-cargo ships that call at six ports in California to plug into shore power using a massive extension cord attached to an outlet at the berths.

The law will require vessel operators to plug in at least half of a fleet’s ships and lower overall emissions by 50 percent. In 2017, the requirements jump to 70 percent and to 80 percent in 2020.

“You haven’t seen a program like this applied industrywide anywhere else in the world,” said John McLaurin, president of Pacific Merchant Shipping Association, which represents shippers and marine terminal operators.

Shore power, which was first developed by the Navy to allow ships to plug into electricity instead of using onboard engines, was a measure in the L.A./Long Beach clean air plan.

The need to reduce diesel particulate matter and nitrogen oxide emissions and other pollution spilling into neighborhoods adjacent to the ports motivated state officials to create the new regulation, one of several enacted over the last decade to combat pollution from the ports — a massive economic generator that moves millions of cargo containers carrying goods bound for the region and eastward.

“California’s leading the way again, and it’s part of our general goods movement where it incorporates the time the vessels come in, the type of fuel” and other factors, said David Mehl, manager of CARB’s energy section, which handles the At-Berth Regulation. “It’s a significant regulation, and when you add all of this up, the benefit to nearby communities is significant.”

The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners, the mayor and other city officials who helped create the clean air plan “made commitments that anything we do in the future is going to be sustainable,” said Rick Cameron, acting managing director of Environmental Affairs and Planning at the Port of Long Beach.

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach were on board with shore power before enacting the clean air plan. In Los Angeles, the port first introduced shore power in 2004 with China Shipping.

Today, Los Angeles has spent more than $180 million in the shore power effort, most of it in the last 12 months, said spokesman Phillip Sanfield.

The number of berths equipped for shore power went from nine to 25 in the last year, Sanfield added.

Since then, the port is in the final stages in making its berths compliant and continues to work with providers to examine alternative technologies for those who can’t do shore power, he said.

In Long Beach, about $175 million has been spent to outfit its container terminals and the crude oil terminal at Berth T-121 with shore power, said port spokesman Lee Peterson.

Shore power cuts air pollution from ships at berth by 95 percent, according to port officials.

Several Long Beach terminals are already equipped with shore power, including Matson Navigation Co., which signed one of the first green leases with the Port of Long Beach in 2006 and started plugging in its retrofitted ships in 2011.

Matson, whose ships ferry goods primarily between Hawaii and the West Coast, spent about $1.7 million on each of its eight ships to make them shore power ready, said Lisa Swanson, director of environmental affairs for Matson.

“For us it was a big investment, but it was feasible because we have a relatively small fleet,” she said.

Meanwhile, other ports are working toward shore power readiness.

In San Diego, the port’s goal is to provide shore power for the first time to a cargo ship on Jan. 12, said Tanya Castaneda, public information officer for the Port of San Diego.

San Diego offers shore power at its two cruise ship terminals and is in the process of installing it at its main cargo terminal, 10th Avenue Marine Terminal, she said.

In April, port commissioners endorsed a $2.9 million contract to Newest Construction Company Inc. to install the shore power at two berths at the marine terminal.

The port and Dole Fresh Fruit Co., the terminal’s main tenant, inked a new long-term lease that included shore power infrastructure improvements.

In November, Oakland port officials announced the completion of the port’s multiyear shore power infrastructure program, which spanned two phases and covered 11 berths. The port also finished phases 1 and 2 of its new electrical infrastructure system. Final testing of the new system is scheduled to be finished next month.

“We are meeting our clean air commitment at the Port of Oakland,” said port spokesman Robert Bernardo, adding that the port’s estimated project cost is about $60 million.

He added that the port has already reduced emissions by 70 percent, closely reaching the 85 percent goal for 2020.

“We’re well on our way, and shore power pushes it further,” Bernardo said.

But there have been some challenges to implementing the new rule.

Among the most challenging is ensuring that there is enough energy to meet the new demand.

“The long-term concern is the availability of power and at what cost?” McLaurin said. “I think those two issues will have to be looked at on an ongoing basis. If the power is interrupted, even for a brief period of time, you’re basically going to be shutting down terminal operations for an extended period of time.”

Further complicating matters is the 2012 shuttering of the San Onofre power plant, Cameron said.

“It’s a question mark not only for the ports, but for the region,” he said.

The L.A. and Long Beach ports have been working with the energy providers — Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and Southern California Edison, respectively — to ensure shore power and future port electrical demands, Cameron said.

“I think in the near-term we’ll be OK, but the bigger question is long-term,” he said.

Southern California Edison said it has engaged the port in such efforts as energy efficiency and infrastructure improvements that are making shore power a reality for port customers.

These efforts included this year’s completion of four new substations to serve various piers at the port that enable port customers to take advantage of certain rate options (approved by the California Public Utilities Commission in 2009), according to Edison.

“Further, SCE has worked with the port on improvements in facilities to ensure the system remains safe and reliable,” Edison said in a statement.

Another challenge is making vessel operators aware of the new regulation.

To reach out to stakeholders about the shore power regulation, Long Beach officials also hosted a shore power summit in May and met with top level shipping line executives in Asia and Europe, Peterson said.

To help ease operators into the new practices, air resource board officials earlier this month announced it will be flexible to fleets making “good faith compliance efforts” during a six-month period ending June 30.

CARB officials stressed that the new regulation is not a revenue model for the agency.

“We’re primarily a public health organization,” said Karen Cesar, spokesperson for CARB. “This is our mandate, to protect the public’s health.”

Source from : Long Beach Press Telegram

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