Golden Gate Ferry Activates Automated High-Voltage Shore Power Berths at San Francisco Ferry Building and Larkspur

Marine engineering crews with the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District and port electricians from the Port of San Francisco commissioned automated high-voltage "cold-ironing" shore power berths on Saturday afternoon at Gate C of the San Francisco Ferry Building at 1 Ferry Building on The Embarcadero and at Berths 1 and 2 of the Larkspur Ferry Terminal in Marin County. Serving more than 1.6 million annual transbay passengers across the fleet of seven high-speed Golden Gate Ferry vessels, the electrified berths allow docked catamarans to shut down onboard diesel auxiliary generators immediately upon mooring.

Previously, vessels laying over for twenty-five to forty-five minutes between transbay runs—and overnight at the Larkspur maintenance slips—kept 150-kilowatt auxiliary diesel engines running continuously to power navigation electronics, cabin HVAC, fire pumps, and galley lighting. The new articulated hydraulic dockside cable arms allow deckhands to plug a watertight IEC/IEEE 80005-3 480-volt three-phase connector into the vessel's gunwale receptacle in less than forty-five seconds, transferring hotel load seamlessly to 100 percent renewable municipal grid electricity.

By eliminating 6,800 hours of dockside diesel generator idling each year across the San Francisco and Larkspur waterfronts, the shore-power system cuts annual fuel consumption by 41,000 gallons and prevents 420 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions. The upgrade also removes diesel particulate exhaust and low-frequency engine hum from The Embarcadero promenade.

The $4.6 million marine electrification project complies ahead of schedule with the California Air Resources Board Commercial Harbor Craft regulation and was funded through a Federal Transit Administration Passenger Ferry Grant and CARB Carl Moyer clean-air funds. Riders can view transbay sailing schedules on the Golden Gate Ferry Official Portal.