B.C. commits $9M to deliver clean power to Victoria's harbour in hopes of reducing cruise ship emissions

Victoria's harbour is one step closer to getting shore power.

The British Columbia government says it will invest $9 million toward delivering clean power to cruise ships while in port at Ogden Point.

Thefunding will help plan, design and deliver clean, renewable energy to cruise ships, B.C. Transportation Minister Rob Fleming said in a Wednesday press conference.

Right now, ships must use engine power to keep electricity running, forcing them toidle whilethey are in port.

Fleming said the goal is to havetwo berths where ships can plug in to shore power.

"This will let cruise ships turn off their engines, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by almost half, and it is the equivalent of removing something like 3,400 vehicles from the Capital Region's roadnetwork," Fleming said.

Grace Lore, MLA for Victoria-Beacon Hill, saida switch to shore power would also reducenoise pollution for arearesidents.

The Greater Victoria Harbour Authority has been doing feasibility and planning work on shore power for years. There is still no timeline on when installation would happen.

The province and the harbour authority are hoping the federal government will step up to help foot the bill.

The recent federal budget mentioned shore power broadly,but Ottawa has not provided details on where that funding would go.

Port Metro Vancouver was the first in Canada to offer shore power to cruise ships, in 2009.

Anna Barford, a shipping campaigner at environmental advocacy group Stand.earth,called Wednesday's announcement a good start, but said moreneeds to be done to shrink the cruise ship industry's "completely outsized environmental footprint."

"We're not addressing dumping up and down the coast," Barford said. "We're not bringing in measures to ensure that cruise ships are not using dirty fuel to begin with. This is an exciting first step, particularly for residents local to Victoria, but that's kind of it."

Around 320 cruise ships are expected to dock at Ogden Pointthis year, bringing in upward of 850,000 passengers, according to the harbour authority. The first cruise ship of the season is scheduled to arrive on Tuesday.