Florida Power & Light (FPL) is to explore the provision of electrical shore power (cold ironing) to all eight cruise ship berths at Port Everglades, the world’s third largest cruise homeport.
This project is as a result of Broward County and its Port Everglades Department reaching a $495,000 agreement with (FPL).
The agreement gives FPL the go ahead to begin design services required to construct a new electrical sub-station and power distribution facilities at Port Everglades.
“When we first explored shore power back in 2009, few of the cruise ships that came to Port Everglades were equipped to connect at that time, so it was premature to make a multi-million dollar investment.
“Now is the time as today’s cruise ships being built for energy efficiency and the lines are retrofitting their older fleet with shore power technology,” said Port Everglades CEO and Port Director, Jonathan Daniels (pictured).
He added that the Port will seek state and federal cost-sharing opportunities, such as grants, with the balance of the project shared between the Port and the cruise lines using the facility.
A preliminary design phase lasting around three months will include assessing the capability and capacity of the electrical grid to determine the necessary electrical infrastructure upgrades required to effectively deliver shore power to each of the Port’s eight cruise berths.
