PNNL

The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) has released a Port Electrification Handbook—a reference to aid maritime ports nationwide in their clean energy transition.

• Download the Port Electrification Handbook
• Download the Executive Summary
• Download the Maritime Port Load and Generation Profile Workbook

What does the Port Electrification Handbook cover? The handbook is a product of extensive collaboration with seven guiding ports, along with industry groups like Washington Maritime Blue, and with contributions from Sandia National Laboratories. The handbook emphasizes the critical evaluation and planning phase of port electrification projects, as well as benefits and challenges to consider during these phases, including economic feasibility, resilience impacts, and environmental justice.

As outlined currently, handbook topics include:

• Port Electrification Overview–considerations, challenges, and benefits, market trends, and policy considerations
• Microgrids–the role of microgrids at ports, microgrid configurations and considerations, including the role of independent and networked microgrids
• Electrification technologies–shore power, hybrid and electric port equipment, charging and fueling infrastructure, energy storage options, and V2X capabilities
• Alternative-fuel vehicles, vessels, and associated supportive infrastructure
• Port renewable energy options including solar, wind, and marine energy
• Planning and design considerations
• Addressing cybersecurity and resiliency in port energy transitions
• Case studies, including technoeconomic analysis, highlighting challenges and potential solutions to port electrification for Port Guiding Partners and others.

Why is electrification planning important to ports? Over the next decades, the maritime industry will undergo an unprecedented energy transition. Maritime activities underpin the U.S. and global economy, currently at significant environmental cost. Such activities account for approximately 3% of global carbon emissions[1] and release harmful pollutants into the environment that inequitably impact nearby communities. Decarbonizing port activities (e.g., vessels, port infrastructure, shore-side transportation) is necessary to achieve the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) goal of carbon neutrality in global shipping by 2050. Port decarbonization is also necessary to prepare U.S. seaports to withstand the impacts of climate change while advancing environmental justice. The federal government has committed to investing over $20 billion[2] to support port infrastructure and waterway improvements, including decarbonization, which offers an unprecedented opportunity to decarbonize over the coming years.

Why microgrids? A microgrid is a self-contained power grid that can operate independently or connected to the power grid to improve customer reliability, better resilience, fuel efficiency, longer runtimes, and affordability. Microgrids are a key technology for port electrification because they can provide reliable, clean electricity to ports even in the event of a grid-scale outage, and they can be designed and managed to meet each port’s unique energy demands. This project is funded by the Department of Energy’s Office of Electricity, Smart Grid R&D Program. 

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