VICTORIA -- The Greater Victoria Harbour Authority (GVHA) has proposed a comprehensive overhaul to its long term plan, which would include a study into the feasibility of installing shore power in Victoria for visiting cruise ships.

Shore power would dramatically reduce cruise ship emissions while docked at the Breakwater District at Ogden Point as the vessels would be able to charge on the island, rather than idle during their stay.

In an announcement made Friday, the GVHA said that it had submitted a request to the City of Victoria for an extension to its Memorandum of Understanding between the organization and the municipality to Dec. 31, 2025.

The GVHA says that the extension would help shape a new long term plan for the Breakwater District at Ogden Point, which would replace its previously established development plan to a new environmentally-focused one.

The harbour authority has outlined a number of projects it would undertake under the new master plan, including:

  • Determining the feasibility, business case, and funding sources to support the installation of shore power;
  • Collaborating with the federal government to pursue further environmental examination and remediation of the deep-water facility; and,
  • Where prudent, refurbishing existing facilities to improve environmental and operational footprints.

The GVHA estimates that the installation of a shore power terminal at the breakwater would reduce cruise ships' greenhouse gas emissions by 51 per cent while hoteling. 

In October, BC Hydro spokesperson Ted Olynyk told CTV News that the island was capable of supplying a shore power terminal, but costs could not be estimated until further details were established.

"It's not a question of capacity, we have the ability to meet the load," said Olynyk. 

Instead, the questions would be where the electricity would come from, how it would be transferred to Ogden Point and at what cost. 

BC Hydro says potential power options include the Esquimalt or Horsey substations, though details would have to be discussed with the GVHA, who would be responsible for covering the costs of building and maintaining the terminal.

In 2009, Vancouver was the first port in Canada to install a shore power terminal. Since then, the Port of Vancouver estimates that cruise ship greenhouse gas emissions have been reduced by more than 20,000 tonnes.

Vancouver's shore power terminal cost nine-million dollars to build more than one decade ago, and was subsidized by the federal government, BC Ministry of Transportation, BC Hydro, Port Metro Vancouver, and both Holland America Line and Princess Cruises.

"Our organization remains focused on the long-term viability for The Breakwater District at Ogden Point, but it is clear that we need to first focus on these areas of environmental sustainability before pursuing any short or long-term development to the site," said Ian Robertson, CEO of the GVHA.

"This allows us, as a not-for-profit organization, to allocate resources to these important development areas. We remain committed to working with our partners and eight member agencies, including the City of Victoria, as we focus on reducing the impact of greenhouse gases at The Breakwater District."