Green Shore-To-Ship Power For White Bay Cruise Terminal

After years of diesel fumes and engine noise from ships docked at Sydney’s White Bay Cruise Terminal; shore-to-ship power is finally on its way – and it will be renewables based.

White Bay Cruise Terminal is situated in Balmain on Sydney Harbour’s foreshore. It was approved by the NSW Minister for Planning in 2011, and the facility started operating in April 2013.

Since that time, cruise ships docking at White Bay have needed to keep some of their engines or generators running 24/7 to supply power on board. These ships are huge, and require a lot of electricity to keep the essentials and not-so-essential equipment running.

This has been problematic for some Balmain and Rozelle residents, and of course the wider environment.  In addition to the noise, stench and various toxic fumes, carbon emissions from the practice at White Bay Cruise Terminal and nearby Glebe Island where bulk ships dock are reportedly in the region of up to 14,000 tonnes annually.

• The good news – the Port Authority of NSW has announced a $60 million investment that will see shore-to-ship power for vessels docking at White Bay, and for bulk ships at Glebe Island.
• The very good news – this electricity supply will be 100% renewable, although it’s not clear what flavour it will be (e.g. wind or solar power, or a combination).
• The not so good news – it will still take at least a couple of years to happen. And affected residents have run out of patience.

The impatience is understandable given residents have been subjected to the impacts from White Bay Cruise Terminal for a long time; although not so much in the last couple of years due to the pandemic – ill winds and all that. However, cruise ships will return on April 17 and no doubt there’s a fair bit of trepidation in that part of the community over losing whatever degree of relief they’ve been able to enjoy.

Council: Get It Done … Immediately

Inner West Council has their back – Mayor Darcy Byrne is urging the NSW Government to get cracking and begin work right now.

“I am writing to the Premier and Transport Minister now to call on them to implement ship to shore power immediately, not in two or three years’ time,” said Mayor Byrne. “Back in 2019 the Labor opposition made a commitment to providing ship to shore power, sadly the Liberal Government has failed to act ever since.”

Given what Mayor Byrne describes as the State Government’s “atrocious record of neglect” in the local government area, she sees no reason to assume the project will be delivered in 2024.

Inner West Council is particularly sensitive to environmental issues. It was the first council in the state to totally divest from fossil fuels and then got busy racking up solar panels on its own facilities. The organisation has a target of being 100% carbon neutral by 2023 and attaining 100% renewables to power its operations by 2025.

The Port Authority of NSW says the shore-to-ship power project is a world first for a dry-bulk precinct and a first in the Southern Hemisphere for a cruise terminal. You can find out more about the project here.