SSA Marine repowering Oakland container yard cranes

   The Port of Oakland said a $6 million project at SSA Marine’s Oakland International Container Terminal to repower diesel-powered rubber tired gantry cranes (RTGs) with hybrid diesel electric power will cut greenhouse gas emissions by 96% and diesel particulate matter by 95%.
   The marine terminal, which handles 61% of Oakland’s cargo, is converting 13 RTGs diesel to battery-powered hybrid engines. The 90-foot-tall cranes combine to lift about 1,000 containers a day. 
   Three yard cranes have been retrofitted and returned to service since March, and Ken Larson, crane manager at SSA, said the project has turned out “way better than we thought it would be,” with fuel consumption on each crane dropping from 10 to 12 gallons of diesel an hour to about a half gallon per hour.
   The port said reducing exhaust from the cranes could help the industry meet clean air commitments.
   SSA is replacing 1,000-horsepower diesel engines on its cranes with 142-horsepower diesel hybrids. The new power plants include small diesel engines used only to charge a crane’s batteries.
     The Bay Area Air Quality Management District awarded SSA a $5 million grant to help finance the conversion.