The Northwest Seaport Alliance’s Terminal 5 welcomed MSC Brunella last week as the first vessel to plug-in into the terminal’s shore power infrastructure.
This inaugural plug-in on April 10 marked the commissioning phase of the Terminal’s shore power project component, successfully utilizing clean energy from the City of Seattle’s electrical grid to power the vessel while at berth.
Shore power infrastructure reduces diesel particulate matter and greenhouse gas emissions by allowing vessels to turn off their diesel engines and ‘plug-in’ to the local power grid while being worked at the dock.
Terminal 5 is the first international container terminal in the NWSA gateway with shore power capability, with Husky Terminal in the South Harbor and Terminal 18 in the North Harbor as the next projects to be completed.
“The Northwest Seaport Alliance is committed to reducing maritime emissions in our harbors, and the launch of shore power utilization at Terminal 5 is an important milestone for our gateway,” Sam Cho , The Northwest Seaport Alliance Co-Chair, said.
“We appreciate our partners, SSA Terminals, Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), Pacific Crane Maintenance Company (PCMC), and the International Longshore Workers Union (ILWU) Local 19 for working alongside the NWSA to ensure shore power is successful at Terminal 5″
“We thank the Washington State Legislature for their investment in Terminal 5 shore power and look forward to expanding shore power infrastructure across our facilities, including the upcoming installation of shore power at Husky Terminal in our South harbor,” Deanna Keller , The Northwest Seaport Alliance Co-Chair, said.
Shore power installation is a key environmental initiative as part of the Northwest Ports Clean Air Strategy, which targets the installation of shore power infrastructure on all international container terminals by 2030. The NWSA expects all capable ships will plug-in once the infrastructure is fully installed throughout the gateway.
The Terminal 5 modernization program broke ground in 2019 with operations at the north berth beginning in January of 2022. Phase Two of the modernization is underway with operations in the south berth expected to start in 2024