NWSA: Hapag-Lloyd boxship debuts shore power system at Husky Terminal

The Northwest Seaport Alliance (NWSA), a port authority in the US Puget Sound region, has announced the completion of shore power at Husky Terminal in Tacoma.

On June 15, 2025, the terminal welcomed Hapag-Lloyd’s 8,604 TEU Kuala Lumpur Express as its inaugural shore power plug-in.

The successful plug-in is seen as a significant step in the NWSA’s Northwest Clean Ports Clean Air Strategy drive towards emissions reductions throughout our gateway.

The Kuala Lumpur Express is part of the new Gemini Cooperation in partnership with Maersk, and the 2008-built Hapag-Lloyd vessel was the first to plug in after completion of the commissioning phase.

This inaugural plug-in also makes Husky Terminal the second international cargo terminal in Washington State to be shore power capable, following the completion of Terminal 5’s system in 2023.

“This is a significant step towards the NWSA’s ambitious goal of providing shore power at all international terminals by 2030,” according to the port authority.

“Shore power is a key component of our strategy to phase out all maritime emissions by 2050 or sooner, and completion of this project is a major milestone for our gateway,” John McCarthy, NWSA Co-Chair and Port of Tacoma Commission President, commented.

The NWSA is guided by the Northwest Ports Clean Air Strategy, a multi-port commitment to collectively improve regional air quality and reduce GHG emissions. In addition to the overarching goal to eliminate all maritime emissions by 2050 or sooner, the NWSA has the interim goal of installing shore power at all international terminals by 2030.

When at berth, vessels produce both diesel particulate matter and greenhouse gas emissions, impacting the air quality and health of our near port communities. Shore power, which allows vessels to turn off their diesel engines and ‘plug-in’ to the local power grid while being worked, is the primary strategy for eliminating these emissions.

As informed, the next terminals to be equipped with this infrastructure will be Terminal 18 in Seattle and Washington United Terminal in Tacoma. TOTE, a domestic terminal in Tacoma, has been shore power capable since 2010.

“The success of these projects is completely dependent on collaboration and support between many partners….There is no way to reach these milestones alone. We are fortunate to have partners who share our values and commitment to a sustainable future,” Toshiko Hasegawa, NWSA Co-Chair and Port of Seattle Commission President, said.

Shore power is “an expensive infrastructural investment”, and this project was supported by contributions from several different grant programs. This project received direct support from the Washington State Legislature through a grant award from the VW Settlement Agreement Funds. Funding support also came from the EPA’s Diesel Emission Reduction Act (DERA) and the Trans-Alta Coal Transition grant programs. Between the three grants this project benefited from just over $3 million in State and Federal funds.

More than half of the vessels that now call the NWSA are shore power capable, with carriers continuing to transition their fleets to benefit from these investments in port infrastructure.

In related news, a new initiative was launched recently to accelerate the availability, affordability, and deployment of sustainable maritime fuels and low and zero-emission vessels and technology in the Pacific Northwest.

Facilitated by Washington Maritime Blue and led by the Port of Seattle, Northwest Seaport Alliance, Port of Tacoma, Washington Department of Commerce and the Consortium for Hydrogen and Renewably Generated E-fuels (CHARGE), the initiative is called the Sustainable Maritime Fuels Collaborative (SMF Collaborative).