Port of Oakland’s main terminal to get greener as it improves efficiency

In a move that promises to create more efficiency and ocean container throughput velocity, the Port of Oakland’s largest marine terminal operator plans to introduce hybrid cargo-handling technology in the coming years. 

SSA Terminals said today it will retrofit 13 diesel-powered cranes with diesel-electric hybrid engines. The upgrade is also estimated to eliminate more than 45 tons of exhaust emissions annually at the port, thereby curbing emissions.

SSA’s hybrid cranes will operate primarily on electricity with diesel used only for battery charging. The cranes will also regenerate battery power while lowering containers, which can weigh more than 30 tons.  

According to the port’s communications director, Mike Zampa, Oakland International Container Terminal has transformed the port’s performance in the past two years with more equipment, more labor, night gates and appointments for truckers.  

“With the introduction of hybrid RTGs, the terminal takes the next big step in sustainability,” he said.  

The projected cost to upgrade the cargo-handlers, known as Rubber Tired Gantry Cranes, is more than $6 million. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District this month approved a $5.1 million Community Health Protection Grant Program / Carl Moyer Program allocation for the project. The cranes will continue to operate at SSA’s Oakland International Container Terminal in the port.

Port of Oakland Maritime Director John Driscoll said in a statement that the port was “grateful” that their initiative has the support of the Air District.

The port estimated that hybrid cranes would reduce emissions of some air pollutants by 99 percent. It projected that greenhouse gas emissions from the cranes would fall by a minimum of 40 percent. As part of the grant SSA will also be evaluating the feasibility and promote the future deployment of zero-emission cargo-handling equipment.

SSA’s Oakland terminal, the nation’s second-busiest, handles the equivalent of 600,000 20-foot import containers annually. The terminal accounts for about 60 percent of the port’s total cargo volume.

The port estimated that it could take up to two years to fully outfit SSA’s terminal with hybrid cranes. The terminal operator must first finalize a contract with the Air District to put the plan in motion. 

In 2018, the Air District will be awarding more than $100 million in grant funding for projects that reduce pollution emitted from mobile sources, including $50 million that is being offered through its Community Health Protection Grant Program, which provides grant funds to projects that reduce toxic air emissions and ozone-forming pollutants from older, polluting diesel engines.