PortMiami has begun providing shore power capabilities. This week, the world's busiest cruise port announced that up to three anchored cruise ships will convert to shore-based electricity, allowing ships to save fuel while minimizing harmful emissions.
It is the first major cruise port on the East Coast of the United States to offer shore power connections at five cruise marinas.
Florida Power and Light builds terminal generating up to 16 MW. It is designed to meet the needs of anchored vessels consuming between 8 and 13 megawatts. This is a lot of power, equivalent to the daily needs of roughly 10,000 homes, but a small percentage compared to the consumption of the entire city of Miami. With more than 199,000 households, each ship represents 5% of Miami's total utilization.
In an interview with the Miami Herald, PortMiami Executive Director and CEO Hydi Webb assured the public that supporting the cruise ship's electricity needs would not compromise the city's supply. “People outside the port will not be affected,” she said. We don’t take from anyone else,” she said. |
In addition to minimizing emissions and fossil fuel consumption, shore power availability is attractive to environmentally conscious consumers. This will also help the port achieve its goal of reducing carbon emissions by 50% by 2030 and 100% by 2050.
Carnival will be the first
Carnival Cruise Line (CCL) will be the first to connect to PortMiami's new power grid. The ship Carnival Conquest was chosen for the first connection.
Christine Duffy, President of Carnival Cruise Line, said in a press release: We provide shore power to PortMiami.”
“We continue to implement important initiatives to help us achieve our ambitious goals to reduce emissions, and this new shore power capability will allow our vessels to rely on the grid to power their vessels while in port. “She concluded. |
67% of the CCL fleet (64 ships) has access to shore power. This means cruise lines have more ships capable of using shore power than their competitors. Three more CCL ships are scheduled to be equipped with this technology in 2024, and an additional 30 of these ships are scheduled to receive shore power in the next few years.
Executives from Royal Caribbean International Group, Norwegian Cruise Line, Virgin Voyages and MSC Cruises also attended PortMiami's announcement and expressed support.
Last week, the Port of Seattle declared that all ships at anchor must convert to shore power by 2027, three years earlier than the original 2030 schedule.