The Port of Long Beach yesterday unveiled a first-of-its-kind $54 million electric station for ships to use while docked and unloading cargo, that will allows ships to draw from the power provided rather than running their engines and unloading tons of pollutants into the air. The Port estimates that one ship using the electricity provided for one day amounts to removing 33,000 cars from local highways.
“Building for the future is the only way we can clean away the sins of the past,” said Harbor Commissioner James Hankla. “This is a day that we will remember for a long time — at least until the next one, and there’s a next one coming. I assure you.”
The process is called “cold ironing,” and Port engineers had to design and build the system almost comletely from scratch. A similar system is in place at the Port of Los Angeles, but that station was retrofitted for the technology while Long Beach’s was constructed into the dock. A power station just yards from the ship provides the electricity through cables that lie underneath the cement. The cables lead to what basically amounts to a massive electrical socket in the ground. The ship is able to lower a giant outlet cord from his deck, and plug into the socket.
Engineers say that the electricity substation is able to power a small city on its own. Port Exeutive Director Dick Steinke calls the station “a technological marvel.” The station is the first of an estimated seven that the Port will construct.
“The challenge was to come up with standards that didn’t really exist,” says Nicholas Kozma, Senior Project Manager at the Port. “L.A. had something similar that was a retrofit. This was built in and we preempted international standards by about three months.”
The project was completed with help from K-Line, a shipping company that frequents the Port. K-Line has five ships that are fitted to use the technology, but as of now they are the only company with ships that can use the station. Port officials estimate that more will jump on board, and say that the next revelation will come within the year when BP begins using a similar terminal to be built on Pier T.
The K-Line ship, docked and plugged in.
Port Executive Director Dick Steinke speaks, with the ship’s electrical box and power cords shown over his right shoulder.
Harbor Commissioners (from L-R) Mike Walter, Mario Cordero and James Hankla.
The massive power cord stretches down to plug into the grounded socket.
The ship’s power box with cords hanging down.
The power cords from the grounded socket plug into this transformer.
The electric substation that houses the power provided to the ships.
The “giant socket.”