Port of Oakland, CalSTA, and Japan to cooperate on green seaport initiatives

The Port of Oakland and the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA) have met with a delegation of Japanese Ministry officials to discuss green initiatives to reach zero emissions from seaport operations.

The meeting was a follow-up to a clean energy trade mission to Japan in March where California policymakers, decisionmakers and business executives met to exchange ideas about tackling climate change. Furthermore, they discussed growing green energy and creating new investment and trade opportunities.

This time, as a major U.S. West Coast seaport, Port of Oakland officials were part of the California delegation and discussions. The discussions were held last week.

Japan’s Director General of Ports and Harbor Bureau of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, talked about his country’s efforts to create Carbon Neutral Ports. Japan’s goal is to reach carbon-neutral port operations by 2050.

Meanwhile, port officials shared information on the electrification of the Oakland Seaport, the turning basins widening project and the Seaport Gateway project, all intended to increase efficiency and reduce congestion while reducing emissions.

The officials also talked about grant funding applications to help finance green initiatives that support cutting diesel emissions and greenhouse gases from its maritime operations.

“We are excited for the opportunity to join in this partnership to pursue our shared goal of decarbonizing port operations,” said President of the Oakland Board of Port Commissioners Barbara Leslie.

“We hope this new collaborative effort will deepen cooperation in our industry to reach our zero-emissions goal set in our Seaport Air Quality 2020 and Beyond Plan that our Board unanimously adopted four years ago.”

“For the Port of Oakland’s part, we are proud of the progress we have been able to achieve to drastically reduce emissions from port maritime operations including diesel particulate matter by 86%,” she added

Last August, in a push to decarbonise operations, the port revealed the approval of a $2 million contract for the design of a new, clean energy project at the Oakland Seaport. The project includes electrical infrastructure comprising solar generation, battery storage systems, a fuel cell, and the replacement of a substation and connecting circuitry.