Massport announced plans on Friday to spend $60 million to build an electric power system allowing some specially-equipped cruise ships to plug in and switch off diesel engines while docked.
The quasigovernmental agency says it plans to develop two shore power outlets at its Flynn Cruiseport in Boston to reduce pollution, amidst a growing awareness of how the local shipping industry is affecting public health and the environment.
“We know that our activity impacts the communities that we are around, including South Boston,” Massport Chief Executive Officer Richard Davey said at a press conference at the terminal. “Making this commitment to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions in the cruise (terminal) is critical to ensuring that we can continue to develop here and at the same time ensure that the communities that were around continue to thrive and grow as well.”
Massport said developing shore power stations for up to two cruise ships would take until 2029 but declined to answer details on the planning process for tapping into the power grid or the need for substations to support substantial demand for energy.
An agency report from 2016 projected that one 3,000-passenger cruise ship such as the Queen Mary 2 would need 13 megawatts of power at port, exceeding the average 11 megawatts drawn by all four terminals at Boston Logan International Airport.
The state’s push for more electrification of its maritime operation comes in the wake of increasing health research that points to emissions causing respiratory illnesses, heart disease and cancer in frontline port communities – issues covered this year in an ongoing investigation by the GBH News Center for Investigative Reporting.
Massport controls about three-fourths of the shipping traffic on Boston Harbor. Several weeks ago, the agency had learned that it failed in a bid to land a $280 million Clean Ports grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to reduce emissions and expand electrification.
US Congressman Stephen Lynch praised the investment at the Massport event, calling the plan a “game-changer” that will cut back ship emissions blowing over local neighborhoods.
“When these big ships come in, they’ve got to run those diesel engines. It’s a big pollution generator, not good for the neighborhood of South Boston or any of the other neighborhoods in the city of Boston,” said Lynch, a Democrat who represents the state’s 8th congressional district.
Massachusetts Climate Chief Melissa Hoffer also welcomed the push to reduce ship emissions.
“By bringing shore power to these busy berths, Massport is taking a giant step toward reducing health-harming pollutants from this industry and illustrating that health and environmental protection go hand in hand with expanding economic opportunity,” she said in a prepared statement.
Massport has aggressively expanded both its cruise and cargo ship operations in recent years, steadily booking more ships, and bigger ones, over the last decade. This year, 167 cruise ships visited and docked at Boston Harbor, up from 141 the year before the start of the pandemic, according to the state agency.
The annual tonnage of these ships has also increased more than 38% in the last decade, from 5.5 million tons in 2014 to 7.6 million last year, according to U.S. Customs data obtained by GBH News. Cruise ships accounted for a quarter of the total oceangoing vessel traffic entering Boston Harbor last year.
Kyle Murray, who directs state policy at the Acadia Center, a New England environmental and clean energy nonprofit, says the support marks a shift in statements from policymakers — who once generally only praised the economic boons of shipping in the region.
“(Shipping) has flown under a lot of groups’ radar because it’s so complicated to decarbonize these sectors,” he said.
An ambitious climate bill, passed last week by the Legislature, revised Massport’s charter to require the agency focus on greenhouse gas emissions and impact on local communities.
“That’s a part of their mission going forward,” Murray said. “I think we’re going to see a lot more attention drawn to this this going forward.”
It’s unclear if Massport’s shore power project will face any hurdles. The agency’s own 2016 study leaned heavily against such an undertaking, concluding that “existing South Boston electrical infrastructure (is) currently insufficient to handle shore-to-ship power electrical demand.”
Massport spokeswoman Jennifer Mehigan said the agency is still working on a final design of the project. The electric utility, Eversource, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the proposed project.
