The Alaskan City of Seward is receiving nearly $45.7 mill in US federal funding to add shore power to its cruise ship terminal.
Once completed in a couple years, the project would reduce fossil fuel emissions and lower electricity costs for local rate payers.
Seward was one of two cities in Alaska to receive the grant from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
It claimed that this project would cut diesel emissions from cruise ships when they berth in Seward by running on the city’s electricity instead of their own generators.
The city runs its own utility and purchases power from Chugach Electric Association. While the majority of their power still comes from fossil fuels, Seward City Manager, Kat Sorensen said this project is a step in the right direction.
“As the Railbelt and Alaska becomes more interested and excited about renewable, sustainable energy sources, that’ll make this project even better in the long run,” she said.
The project also includes a battery system that will maintain a steady power supply, as cruise ships connect to shore power.
Sorensen said that a single cruise ship uses roughly the same amount of power in eight hours as the rest of the town does in a day. She added this extra usage could help lower utility costs.
“By having a cruise ship plug in, we add a lot more kilowatt per hour usage to our overall total each day, therefore enabling us to bring the overall rate down for people and spread out the cost of running that infrastructure, because there’s more users on it,” she explained.
Part of the funding will also go toward establishing a programme at the Alaska Vocational Technical Centre to train people to maintain the system.
The grant covers 90% of the cost of the project with the rest coming from private funds from The Seward Company.
Seward Company’s business interest involves real estate deals with the Alaska Railroad Corp and cruise line Royal Caribbean.
Mickey Richardson, CEO of Port of Tomorrow, which owns The Seward Company, said securing the 10% gave the company flexibility in its proposal to the EPA.
“So as we sat down, we could easily just dream big,” he said, “and I think that’s the real secret here to why Seward was selected. Because we weren’t looking for the easiest, cheapest system. We were really trying to change the model and create something that was more meaningful long term for the community, Alaska, as well as the cruise port.”
In the meantime, Sorensen said the port will work on finalising details with the EPA, and construction should begin early next year.
The city expects it to be completed shortly after its cruise ship dock is replaced in 2026.
