The Greater Victoria Harbour Authority (GVHA) has made the decision to put plans for shore power at Ogden Point on hold, as costs are too high with the funding they have available.
Shore power would provide clean electricity to cruise ships while they are docked at the terminal, which would allow them to turn off their engines and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
With the current state of Ogden Point’s cruise ship terminals, ships run on auxiliary power to maintain on-board services. This is known in the industry as “hoteling.”
In April 2023, the BC government committed $9 million to the GVHA, and Transport Canada provided $22.5 million in February of this year.
However, GVHA says that this is not enough, and the shortfall in funding is somewhere between $61 million and $126.5 million, depending on which direction they take to achieve shore power.
Over the last fiscal year, GVHA’s total revenue was a reported $33.4 million, which would not cover the shortfall alone, and this revenue is typically put towards other matters, such as maintenance, updates, and replacing existing assets.
“Following a detailed review, the [GVHA] has determined it cannot proceed with implementing shore power at this time due to significant cost escalations and increased project complexity,” said the GVHA in a statement to Victoria Buzz.
“Despite funding commitments from Transport Canada and the BC Ministry of Transportation and Transit totalling $31.5 million, updated assessments show the project is not financially viable for GVHA under current conditions.”
The harbour authority added that they are committed to reducing GHGs and are exploring a broader port electrification strategy as part of its long-term sustainability planning.
The GVHA say they have the following three options ahead of them to achieve shore power:
- Conventional substation ($92.5 million) – this would involve constructing a new electrical substation and connecting it to the BC Hydro power grid, but it would involve major construction
- Hybrid battery energy storage system ($124 million) – this would offer the most flexibility and would involve a combination of three power sources: a new battery energy storage system, a smaller connection to the BC Hydro grid and backup generators that run on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)
- Floating LNG Barges ($159 million) – this would utilize two large dual-fuel LNG power barges equipped with generators that would provide LNG as the primary fuel with electricity supplied to the ships via cables
According to the GVHA, only around 120 cruise ships are currently equipped to connect to shore power. This represents around 52% of the world’s fleet.
However, this figure is expected to rise to nearly 80% by 2028, and only 35 of the world’s cruise ports, or 3%, currently offer shore power.
Victoria’s 2025 cruise season officially ended on October 18th. This year, the city saw 311 ship visits, bringing in an estimated 990,000 passengers and 377,000 crew members.
