A 40-acre cargo terminal at the Port of Los Angeles will begin transitioning to solar power and other low- or zero-emission energy sources starting this summer, harbor officials said Thursday.
Pasha Stevedoring and Terminals, which moves both traditional containers and “break bulk” cargo such as steel and other unusually shaped items, will begin the final design and construction of a solar power microgrid in June.
Port officials said the “green omni terminal,” which will serve as a test case for zero-emissions and electric technologies at the port, is seen as an ideal site because it moves a variety of cargo types, including about 2 million tons of steel a year.
The project will turn the terminal into an “industrial laboratory,” where equipment and systems will be tested out amid everyday operations, said John Holmes, Pasha’s port operations consultant.
While the project team spent three years planning, “we will still probably have moments where we say ‘oops, we didn’t think of that,”‘ Holmes said, noting they are interested in making sure equipment will be able to last through entire shifts or fit into the existing operations.
Holmes added the new technology will only be used in some parts of the terminal, with back-ups in place to avoid disruptions for their customers.
The project team is made up of Pasha, port officials and consultants from Burns & McDonnell Engineering Company, which has done microgrid projects for the Department of Defense, according to Holmes, who is himself a former coast guard captain at the Port of Los Angeles.
The team’s ultimate goal is to eventually set up a back-up a generator to supply all of the terminal’s energy needs, which would allow operations to continue completely off the grid during an earthquake or other emergency, Holmes said.
Holmes said the solar microgrid, which generates about 1 megawatt of energy, would be a small slice of the port’s eventual self-generated energy source, but the team has not decided on what other zero- or low-emissions sources to use.
He said the project team is looking into natural gas and “clean diesel,” such as biodiesel.
The $26.6 million first phase of the project starting next month is expected to take two and a half years, Holmes said.
Pasha came up with $11.4 million for the project to match a $14.5 million grant awarded earlier this year by the California Air Resource Board. The state grant will pay for nine electric vehicles and the solar grid, which includes a rooftop array, battery storage, charging equipment and an energy management system.
Port equipment maker TransPower Inc. will also be providing $650,000 for electric yard tractors, drayage trucks, heavy-duty forklifts and top handlers.
A pair of wharf cranes will be upgraded, and a ShoreCat system that captures emissions from ships that lack plug-in equipment will be installed.
The eventual changes at the Pasha terminal are projected to take away 3,200 tons of greenhouse gases per year and almost 28 tons a year in diesel and other polluting emissions from the port, creating the equivalent effect of removing 14,100 cars from the road, port officials said.
— Wire reports