The City of Seward is receiving nearly $45.7 million in federal funding to add shore power to its cruise ship port. Once it’s completed in a couple years, the project would reduce fossil fuel emissions and lower electricity costs for ratepayers.
Seward was one of two cities in Alaska to receive the grant from the Environmental Protection Agency. The city said in a press release Tuesday this project would cut diesel emissions from cruise ships when they dock in Seward by running on the city’s electricity instead of their own generators. Burning fossil fuels like diesel are a major contributor to global warming and climate change.
The city runs its own utility and purchases power from Chugach Electric Association. While the majority of their power still comes from fossil fuels, Seward City Manager Kat Sorensen said this project is a step in the right direction.
“As the Railbelt and Alaska becomes more interested and excited about renewable, sustainable energy sources, that'll make this project even better in the long run,” she said.
The project also includes a battery system that will maintain a steady power supply as cruise ships connect to shore power, according to the city’s press release.
The project could benefit the city’s nearly 3,000 utility customers once it goes online. Sorensen says a single cruise ship uses roughly the same amount of power in eight hours as the rest of the town does in a day. She added this extra usage could help lower utility costs.
“By having a cruise ship plug in, we add a lot more kilowatt per hour usage to our overall total each day, therefore enabling us to bring the overall rate down for people and spread out the cost of running that infrastructure, because there's more users on it,” Sorensen said.
Part of the funding will also go toward establishing a program at the Alaska Vocational Technical Center to train people in using and maintaining the system.
The grant covers 90% of the cost of the project. The rest will be paid for with private funds from The Seward Company. The company's business interest involves real estate deals with the Alaska Railroad Corporation and cruise line Royal Caribbean. But in a roundabout way, its investment is a bet on the long-term viability of Seward as a cruise destination.
Mickey Richardson is the CEO of Port of Tomorrow, which owns The Seward Company. He said securing the 10% gave them flexibility in their proposal to the EPA.
“So as we sat down, we could easily just dream big,” he said, “and I think that's the real secret here to why Seward was selected. Because we weren't looking for the easiest, cheapest system. We were really trying to change the model and create something that was more meaningful long term for the community, Alaska, as well as the cruise port.”
In the meantime, Sorensen says they’ll work on finalizing details with the EPA, and work should begin early next year. The city expects to be done shortly after its cruise ship dock is replaced in 2026.