Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) engaged DNV to conduct a technology assessment of the emissions control strategies considered in the 2020 amendments to California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) Ocean-Going Vessels At- Berth Regulation.
The technology assessment determines if the emissions control technologies can be designed for tanker vessels to comply with the regulation safely and reliably, while still meeting other applicable tanker regulations and standards.
DNV included an extensive array of subject matter experts and key stakeholders from government and public entities, industry and industry groups for a comprehensive assessment.
Over the course of multiple technical workshops, the experts discussed the current CARB-approved emission control technologies (CAECS):
- Shore-based power;
- Shore-based capture and control;
- Barge-based capture and control.
The experts evaluated each CAECS and discussed in detail their degree of technical feasibility and maturity, safety concerns and safeguards, operational considerations, environmental aspects and regulatory dependencies.
More specifically, the report concludes that:
- Onshore power together with modifications for design of tankers need significant development and risk mitigation before an industry-wide implementation for tankers which operate world-wide.
- Capture and control technology for tankers does not currently exist. The systems currently used for container vessels in Southern California are not designed to withstand the variable conditions in Northern California including currents, winds, tide, depth, etc. Further, the equipment design and reliability in terms of taking exhaust quantity from tankers need to be established.
- The current regulatory timeline is insufficient to address and mitigate the outstanding safety and operational risks, some of which introduce their own unavoidable limitations and dependencies (e.g., regulatory permitting).
- An electrical grid feasibility study is needed to determine and assure that shore power demand can be provided safely and reliably.
Shore power
Assessment of the shore power technology indicates that the technology needs further development for large-scale implementation in the tanker segment. Some of the key findings are the following:
- Missing and/or gaps in existing industry standards, regulations, and classification societies rules to meet the specific shore power requirements for tankers including the requirements to setting up power generation and distribution system to cover main and emergency switchboard to be powered externally using shore power;
- Lack of standardization for tankers with regards to location of the shore power connection point on the ship, a common point of interface with terminal systems i.e., limitation of shore power connection within hazardous zones;
- The wide range of the length of the tankers and the vessel orientations at the terminals, which when combined with the lack of connection point standardization may seriously restrict the vessels able to use the infrastructure;
- A suitable location for cable management system on shore and onboard, including material handling requirements to deploy electrical cables between shore and connection point on the vessel;
- Technology development of ex-proof certified electrical equipment, severely restricting suitable onboard connection points;
- Further risk evaluation with regards to handling of hazardous cargo while implementing the technology;
- Other risks related personnel safety, emergency evacuation, cybersecurity etc.;
- Consideration of potential demand on the electrical grid in the ports and terminals, as well as locally accounting for variable power and peak load power demands across vessels while ensuring voltage and frequency compatibility/ stability;
- Potential physical space constraints, including emergency vehicles;
- Need to develop maritime industry standards (for terminal and vessel operators) defining tasks and responsibilities, similar to those from International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), OCIMF, and International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH), and International Safety Guide for Oil Tankers and Terminals (ISGOTT).
Shore and barge based capture and control technology
The capture and control technology has certain unique risks relevant to its potential utilization on tankers. To mitigate the risks, the critical recommendations during the design, construction, and implementation are identified through this study. Third-party engineering firms have begun to understand and address these challenges with revised designs with focus on the barge based capture and control technology. A few key considerations are:
- Performance constraints, reliability concerns, with respect to safe and efficient handling of stack size and exhaust rate variability from auxiliary boilers and auxiliary engines, potential additional emission sources;
- Potential interference with hazardous zones on the ship and terminal;
- Compliance with Marine Oil Terminal Engineering and Maintenance Standards (MOTEMS) requirements in cases of terminal modifications and upgrades;
- Safety concerns including short circuits, fire and explosion hazards, collision, disruptions to vessel operations, safe evacuation of personnel;
- Environmental concerns such as potential damage to existing underground installations, noise pollution, potential obstruction of traffic in narrow channels;
- Design constraints such as terminal water depth, operational interference, physical space constraints, operational boundaries.
