The Port of Oakland’s largest marine terminal has cut diesel emissions from all 13 of its yard cranes by 95% after retrofitting them with hybrid-electric engines.
Terminal operator Stevedoring Services of America (SSA) said that the project will eliminate about 1,200 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually from each crane.
“Retrofitting our rubber-tyred gantry cranes to battery power produced remarkable results,” commented Ken Larson, crane manager at SSA Marine’s Oakland International Container Terminal (OICT).
SSA added that the clean air project would result in a 93%reduction in diesel fuel, as the older engines used 10 to 13 gallons of diesel fuel an hour whereas the hybrids use about three-quarters of a gallon an hour, according to Larson. “We were honestly surprised to learn how little diesel fuel we need to use now,” he added.
The hybrid retrofit is the first project of its type at SSA terminals, which replaced 1,000-horsepower diesel generators on its yard cranes with 142-horsepower diesel hybrids. The new power plants have small diesel engines used only to charge a crane’s pack of batteries. and each crane has a housing unit that contains the hybrid generator.
Larson explained that the project was challenging, including the construction of new electrical systems for input power protection when converting current from AC (alternative current) to DC (direct current) on a crane. He added that the hybrid generators capture energy as a container is lowered. Besides saving fuel and reducing emissions, the hybrid performs better than the older diesel generators because there is no delay in power delivery to the crane.
“We’re delighted with this project because it reflects the way the port advances its emission reduction goals by focusing on feasible technologies that can perform the heavy work of moving containers,” stated Richard Sinkoff, Port of Oakland’s director of environmental programmes and planning.
Rubber-tyred gantry cranes are industry workhorses at marine terminals throughout the world. Combined, the thirteen 27.5m-tall cranes can lift as many as 1,000 containers a day on and off trucks at OICT.
“We are pleased that an Air District grant has enabled the completion of the SSA hybrid crane project that will significantly reduce harmful emissions for many years to come,” said Jack Broadbent, executive officer of The Bay Area Air Quality Management District (Air District).
The Air District awarded SSA US$5 million in grant funding as part of the Air District’s Community Health Protection Program (CHP – AB134) to replace the 13 diesel-powered crane engines with Tier 4 Final hybrid engines in order to bring about immediate emissions reductions benefits.
The SSA Terminals project is part of California Climate Investments, a statewide programme that puts billions of Cap-and-Trade dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The Cap-and-Trade programme also creates a financial incentive for industries to invest in clean technologies and develop innovative ways to reduce pollution.
Planning for the crane conversions began after the signing of the CHP Program contract with the Air District on 5 July 2018. The first crane was retrofitted in February of 2019 and the 13th crane was converted in July 2020.
