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The port of Oakland, California, is set to become the latest in the state to install shore-based electrical power following news that the Air Resources Board will receive $161 million in funds to invest in reducing emissions.

The money is being made available to the California Air Resources Board (ARB) as a result of the State Treasurer’s sale of bonds on Earth Day.

As part of the deal, the Goods Movement Emission Reduction Program will receive $90 million, which will be partly used to install shore-based electrical power for two ship berths at the Port of Oakland.

Shore power, also known as "cold-ironing", is a highly effective way to reduce marine diesel air emissions by enabling ships to shut down their engines and connect to the electrical grid in order to provide necessary power while docked. Without shoreside electricity, vessels would use their own diesel-powered auxiliary engines to power refrigerated containers, pumps, lighting, air conditioning and computers while at dock.

The Goods Movement Emission Reduction Program is a partnership between the ARB and local agencies (like air districts and seaports) to quickly reduce air pollution emissions and health risk from freight movement along California’s trade corridors.

Local agencies apply to ARB for funding, and those agencies then offer financial incentives to owners of equipment used in freight movement to upgrade to cleaner technologies. Projects funded under this program must achieve early or extra emission reductions to complement ARB rules.

Once completed, the cold ironing project will enable Oakland to join the list of other eco-conscious Californian ports that have already made shore-based power available to ships.

In October 2008, Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) and CleanAir Logix, Inc.(CAL) tested a liquefied natural gas (LNG)-fueled shore power supply system on the containership MOL Enterprise at the port of Los Angeles.

This was followed in November 2008, when the K Line container vessel Long Beach Bridge became the first ship at the Port of Long Beach to plug in to clean electrical power and shut down its diesel engines at berth.