Questions remain about Shore Power in Red Hook, by Noah Phillips

The Shore Power System at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal has not yet been handed over to the New York City Economic Development Corporation for use, despite a statement by the Port Authority that the handover was targeted for August.

Sources at EDC confirm that the system is operational and that most ships that make port calls at the BCT have been configured to plug into the system. However, certain ‘cosmetic’ details have yet to be resolved, such as installing fans and stairs at the facility. The EDC is hopeful that the Shore Power System (SPS) will be used for the September 8 birthing of the Queen Mary 2.

“The outstanding items impacting official turnover from the PA have nothing to do with the functionality and operation of the system for future calls,” wrote an EDC source in an email. “Management will be handed over pending final work to the system. There is also a third and final inspection scheduled for Thursday [September 1].”

Shore power is a method of reducing port pollution by having ships plug into electrical grids on land, rather than idling their engines by burning fuel. The SPS at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal is the first on the U.S. East Coast, and has been in development since 2010.

Carnival Corporation currently has a preferred birthing contract with EDC. Carnival owns the Queen Mary 2, the Regal Princess, the Crown Princess, and the Caribbean Princess – these four ships will make 44 of the 48 remaining calls at BCT between now and December 31, 2017, when Carnival’s current contract expires.

Sources at EDC say that Carnival will likely be the next primary user as well. When the contract expires, the electricity rate as supplied by the NY Power Authority will be renegotiated, and will likely be lower than the current rate of 12 cents per kilowatt hour.

None of the three other ships currently scheduled to call at the BCT will be using the SPS. Two of these are small yachts not owned by Carnival, and one is the Aurora, part of Carnival’s P&O line, which will call twice in September 2017.

After the 2017 negotiations EDC will endeavor to keep SPS running, but there is no guarantee.
Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez sent a letter to EDC August 20 to clarify the cause of the delay.

“I am pleased that the construction of a shore-supplied power (‘shore power’) system at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal appears to have been completed,” begins the letter. “While we have certainly come a long way, I am concerned about delays in the system’s launch. For these reasons, I want to urge you to commence the ‘shore power’ system’s operation as soon as possible.”

Congresswoman Velazquez cited figures from the Bluewater Network equating an idling cruise ship’s emissions to those of 12.400 cars.

“After all the investment in such a system, and having passed tests with the ships outfitted with ‘shore power’ capability, it is a shame that recent port calls by the Queen Mary 2 have not been able to utilize the ‘shore power’ system,” concluded the Congresswoman. “I am hopeful that we can begin the use of the ‘shore power’ system well before this tourist season is over.”

As of press time, EDC had not responded to the Congresswoman’s letter.