Image courtesy of the port of Oakland
The port of Oakland’s largest marine terminal operator, SSA Terminals, will retrofit 13 diesel-powered cranes with diesel-electric hybrid engines — saving 45 tons of exhaust emissions annually.
The rubber-tired gantry (RTG) cranes will undergo upgrades totally more than $6 million dollars, which received a $5.1 million grant from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.
Port of Oakland Maritime Director, John Driscoll, commented: “We’re delighted that SSA is taking a lead role in curbing emissions and we’re grateful that their initiative has the support of the Air District.”
The new hybrid RTG’s will primarily operate on electric power, with diesel only being used to charge the crane’s batteries.
Read the latest technical paper from the International Chamber of Shipping on the recent IMO GHG strategy
The cranes will also be fitted with energy-saving technology that can charge the batteries whilst lowering containers during operations.
The port estimates that the hybrid cranes will reduce emissions of general air pollutants by 99%, and projected that greenhouse gas emissions from the cranes would fall by at least 40%.
It has been estimated that it could take up to two years to complete the full retrofit on SSA’s terminals RTGs.
SSA’s Oakland Terminal is the nation’s second-busiest container terminal, handling 600,000 TEUs annually — accounting for approximately 60% of the port’s total cargo volume.
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