Shore power enables ships equipped with the necessary equipment to shut down diesel powered auxiliary engines and plug into land-based electrical power. This reduces emissions of pollutants that damage air quality and GHG emissions that contribute to climate change. It also reduces engine noise. In this video, the Port of Vancouver presents its own shore power facility.
In 2009, the Canada Place cruise ship terminal became the first in Canada and third in the world to provide shore power for cruise ships. In 2013, the Port installed an additional jib, or connection point, to further enable connections.
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Since 2009, shore power installations at the Port of Vancouver cruise ship terminal have cut 582 tonnes of air pollutants and 20,757 tonnes of greenhouse gases.
Shore power is also available for container ships at the Centerm container terminal and at Deltaport, Canada’s largest container terminal.
The anticipated reductions in air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions, from this technology can summarized as following:
- Fuel savings: 30.7 tonnes;
- Net greenhouse gas emission reductions (CO2e): 94.6 tonnes;
- Criteria air contaminants reduced: 1.4 tonnes.
However, shore power is not one-size-fits-all system. There are several conditions that affect whether a ship can plug in, such as availability of terminal facilities, configuration of a terminal’s shore power equipment, the location and limitations of the ship’s shore power equipment, and the availability of power from BC Hydro.
