https://reasonstobecheerful.world/cruise-ships-shore-power/
"On a brisk February morning in Miami, Matthew Creswell watched as engineers
wrestled thick power cables at a cruise ship terminal. The ship was about to
plug into the electrical grid — an event far less ordinary than it sounds.
As the harbormaster of Juneau, Alaska, Creswell was there to study the Port of
Miami’s $125 million shore power project through an American Association of
Port Authorities program. He hoped that what he learned would shape Juneau’s
own electrification plans.
“In our homes and our daily lives, we plug things in and power works,” he says.
“Plugging a cruise ship in is like essentially adding a small town to your
electrical grid for a few hours in the day.”
Smaller vessels frequently plug into shore power, getting electricity while at
berth with shut-down engines, which may make this seem like an underwhelming
technical achievement. However, when it comes to scaling up shore power for
cruise ships weighing hundreds of thousands of tons, logistics, engineering and
grid infrastructure present significant hurdles many ports struggle to
surmount.
As a result, a lot of cruise ships run their engines full time to power onboard
generators for their electrical needs — burning endless gallons of fuel in the
process.
Right now, only a small number of ports visited by cruise ships — fewer than
three percent — have shore power. But that’s beginning to change. This year,
Seattle became the first U.S. port to offer shore power at all three of its
cruise ship berths. Other ports, including Miami, Juneau and Vancouver, are
following suit. The Cruise Lines International Association reports 33 ports
worldwide now have shore power, with 24 funded projects and 18 more planned."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
