The Port of Hueneme received US$10.4 million in funding from Ventura County Transportation Commission (VCTC) to help build shoreside power plug-in infrastructure on its North Terminal.
In the meantime, the Californian port recently received state and federal funding from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust to implement innovative technologies to increase electrification efforts, track air quality progress, and further reduce particulate matter.
The VCTC unanimously voted to approve funding for numerous CMAQ (Congestion Mitigation & Air Quality) projects that reduce congestion and vehicle emissions at its board meeting on 2 December.
VCTC awarded the Port of Hueneme a US$10.4 million grant for its North Terminal Shore Power Project.
“This historic and unprecedented amount of funding allows the Port to continue its work reducing air emissions while continuing to move essential cargo,” commented Mary Anne Rooney, president of the Oxnard Harbor District which owns the Port of Hueneme.
She added, “Over the past 85 years, the Port has invested more than $20 million in mutually beneficial environmental projects that foster unity and collaboration with the most impactful and meaningful results for the community.”
“The funding will greatly benefit the Ventura County region by bringing an additional 94 percent reduction in particulate matter and a 99 percent reduction in nitrogen oxides for all shore-power capable car-carrying vessels over the lifetime of the project,” noted Oxnard Harbor Commissioner, Celina Zacarias.
According to the port of Hueneme, in 2014 the all-electric shoreside power systems went online at the South Terminal where container ships plug in to use the clean grid power.
Since 2008, there has been an estimated 96% decrease in sulfur oxides (SOx) and a 77% reduction in harmful diesel particulate matter. This electrification project allows car-carrying ships to connect to shoreside power to effectively eliminate diesel emissions while at berth.
Furthermore, the project will be built through the port’s project labor agreement. Many of the car-carrying vessels are used for the imports and exports of passenger vehicles. In fact, customers report that 23% of the cars transiting the Port of Hueneme are electric vehicles, outperforming the national average of 4%.
Passenger vehicles of the port of Hueneme account for a quarter of all imports and exports at the port, and last year totaled US$4.99 billion for imports and US$228.07 million for exports.
