The Port of Oakland has approved a $2-million design contract for a clean energy project at the Northern California seaport, the port announced Aug. 22.
Engineering design consulting company Burns & McDonnell has been selected to perform the work, which would involve injecting green technology and resiliency elements to the electrical infrastructure design of a project to serve the former Oakland Army Base and Outer Harbor areas and bolster its electrical grid resiliency.
That electrical infrastructure encompasses “solar generation, battery storage systems, a fuel cell and the replacement of a substation and connecting circuitry.” The goal is to create renewable energy to help the port move toward fully electric heavy-duty trucks and cargo-handling equipment and do away with fossil fuel reliance in cargo handling operations, the agency explained in a statement.
“This is a major step toward our goal to make the Oakland seaport a zero-emissions operation,” the port’s Maritime Director, Bryan Brandes, said.