Americas News
Canada Funding More Shore Power Projects
The Canadian government says it is launching new funding to add shore power facilities at the nation's ports.
"This technology will improve local air quality by reducing air pollution from ships in some of Canada's largest urban centres," said Denis Lebel, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs.
"By funding more shore power projects, our government is taking concrete action to reduce air emissions and improve the health of Canadians."
The funds, which pay up to CAD5 million ($4.9 million) per project and fund as much as half the cost of adding shore power, are the second round of a CAD27.2 million ($26.7 million) program announced last year.
Last month, Seaspan Ferries Corp. won CAD89,650 ($87,126) from the program to help it install shore power at its Swartz Bay Ferry Terminal in British Columbia.
Shore power, or cold ironing, allows vessels to turn off their engines and instead use electricity from the port to run systems while they are docked.
California has rules mandating the use of shore power comming into effect in 2014, and recent reports have found that the use of shore power helped reduce emissions in the U.S. in Puget Sound and the Port of Long Beach.
However some in the industry have told Ship & Bunker they believe it would be more effective if the money spent on shore-side power projects was instead spent on cleaning up vessels' auxiliary engines, as it would enable the problem to be addressed at a global level.
The Canadian government says encouraging the use of shore power will help it reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020.
