Paul Berger of The Wall Street Journal reports of a power problem at the Port of Los Angeles. Container-handling companies say unreliable power supplies hinder a bid to phase out diesel-powered machinery by 2030. He writes:
The Port of Los Angeles’s transition to green technology is on the blink.
The private companies that handle containers at the crucial seaport say power surges and lulls are knocking out cranes and other cargo equipment just as container terminals are relying more on the electric grid to power their operations.
The terminal operators are asking how the port expects to achieve a mandate to phase out diesel-powered machinery by 2030 when today’s power supply is so unreliable. Their frustrations highlight the gap in energy infrastructure that complicates moves toward zero-emission technologies even as companies invest big sums in the transition. […]
Port of Long Beach officials estimate that between 2019 and 2030 they will see a sixfold increase in power needs. “We will need new substations in some areas and power lines in others,” said Sean Gamette, the port’s managing director of engineering.
“I’m not going to guarantee we are going to make it,” Gamette said. “But I am going to guarantee that we’re going to try.”
Read more here.
