Washington State Ferries (WSF) is undertaking an ambitious initiative to move toward a “greener” ferry fleet with the twin goals of reliability and lighter environmental footprint. In a typical year, WSF burns more than 18 million gallons of diesel fuel, making the system Washington state’s largest diesel consumer. WSF is working on several projects to meet the goals of Gov. Jay Inslee’s Executive Order 20-01, which directs WSF to move toward a zero emissions fleet. The three main capital components of the electrification plan are: building new Olympic class hybrid-electric vessels, converting the existing three Jumbo Mark II vessels to hybrid-electric vessels and developing terminal charging infrastructure.
Timeline overview
Hybrid Electric Olympic Class: 2022-2055 (tentative), Conversion of M/V Wenatchee to Hybrid Electric Propulsion: Winter 2022-2
Major project status
Pre-Construction
Funding
$1.33 billion secured to date from grants and federal and state funds
In 2023 we plan to begin construction on our first hybrid-electric Olympic-class ferry, with an estimate of 2025 for this new vessel to enter service. We must continue building additional hybrid-electric ferries to maintain reliable service and meet our emission reduction targets. These greener ferries have the added benefit of reducing nitric oxide emissions by 146 metric tons/year and carbon dioxide emissions by 16,340 metric tons/year, reducing operating costs, virtually eliminating engine noise and vibration, and reducing maintenance costs.
Converting the three Jumbo Mark II vessels is also a key component of the electrification plan, and work is expected to begin in 2023 on the first conversion.
Video of our electrification efforts
Our new hybrid-electric vessel is just one element of our electrification efforts. Our plan to take the nation’s largest ferry fleet to emission free by the year 2050 is outlined in a video we produced for the American Society of Civil Engineer’s biennial International Conference on Sustainable Infrastructure.
Environmental Program Manager Kevin Bartoy is one of several WSF
employees featured in a video about our journey to a zero-emissions fleet.
Our 2040 Long Range Plan (PDF 11.4MB), which was delivered to the Legislature in January 2019, recommends short-, medium- and long-term actions for WSF to pursue and focuses on a set of investments and service enhancements to be implemented over 20 years. One of the key recommendations is to move toward a “greener” ferry fleet with the goal of a reliable fleet that has a lighter footprint on the environment and outperforms carbon dioxide reduction targets. These goals were captured in the System Electrification Plan (PDF 4MB) in Dec. 2020.
Since 2014, WSF has built four new 144-car Olympic-class ferries and added them to the fleet. Even with four new ferries the new vessel construction program has not kept up with the needs of our aging fleet. Over half of our fleet, 11 of 21 vessels, are more than 30 years old. These ferries are approaching the end of their service lives and must be replaced with newer vessels in the coming years.
WSDOT and WSF are pursuing a number of funding opportunities at the federal, state and local levels to advance the electrification program for both vessels and terminals. To date, WSF has been awarded grants to support the conversion project including funds from the nationwide federal Volkswagen settlement ($35M), a Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement grant ($6.5M), and a Marine Highway Project Designation and grant award of $1.5M.
We will conduct community engagement activities for planning and construction milestones related to systemwide electrification, and will provide information about other activities underway.
WSF has involved vessel crews and maintenance staff in the design process, including the development of operational concepts, hazard identification and risk management. Crew training in the areas of electric propulsion and lithium-ion batteries is underway and will continue through project delivery with vessel-specific training.
System Electrification Plan
We developed a System Electrification Plan (PDF 4MB) that expands on the 2040 Long Range Plan (PDF 11.4MB) to evaluate alternatives and propose an efficient strategy for using hybrid-electric vessels throughout the system. The plan was delivered to the legislature in January 2021.
New hybrid-electric Olympic class vessels
Ultimately the System Electrification Plan calls for delivering 16 new Olympic class, hybrid-electric vessels by 2040. Launching construction of this first hybrid-electric vessel in 2022 will launch the implementation of the electrification plan – setting Ferries on its new course – for a greener ferry system, with reduced emissions of up to 76% when the plan is fully implemented.
Jumbo Mark II hybrid-electric propulsion conversion
We are moving forward with converting our three Jumbo Mark II-class ferries, the largest in the fleet, from diesel to hybrid-electric propulsion. In October 2019, the trustee administering the nationwide federal Volkswagen settlement approved up to $35 million to support retrofitting the first of the ferries from diesel to electric power. Planning and design will continue through 2020 and construction of the first Jumbo Mark II conversion will begin in late-2022. In addition to cost savings and reduced maintenance costs, converting the Jumbo Mark IIs will reduce carbon emissions by 48,565 metric tons/year – the equivalent of taking more than 10,000 cars off the road.
Shore Charging
To fully operate a hybrid electric fleet and meet our emission reduction targets, terminal charging infrastructure must be in place— planned for 16 of the terminals.
Other shoreside electrification improvements include:
Grid connections from a local utility substation and distribution lines to the terminal
Terminal power conversion equipment, switchgear, and batteries
Electric Power Receptacles at selected slips (on the wingwall, or the structures that aid in the mooring of the vessel at the terminal)
Connection to the vessel-based Rapid Charging System (RCS)
Shoreside energy storage systems (ESS) at select terminals
When siting any terminal electrification equipment, sea level rise and floodplain hazard zones will need to be considered. Coordination with other planned terminal improvements should also be considered. Where the grid capacity cannot meet the charging demand directly, a shoreside Energy Storage System (ESS) will be required.
Diagram taken from the WSF Electrification plan highlighting the benefits of hybrid electric ferries.
We are working on several projects to meet the goals of Executive Order 20-01 (PDF 208KB), which directs WSF to move toward a zero emissions fleet. As noted on page 37 of the System Electrification Plan (PDF 4MB), if WSF is able to implement the investments in hybrid electric vessels and the shore-side terminal charging, we could see a 53% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 and a 76% reduction by 2040.
