Brooklyn Marine Terminal (BMT) is a 60-acre urban port nestled amid diverse, vibrant, and high-density residential communities. As part of its ambitious Vision Plan for BMT, the City of New York seeks to fully electrify the port, yielding more efficient operations and a cleaner environment for surrounding communities.
However, as at many ports, BMT’s electrical capacity is currently limited. As part of a call for ideas, Arup explored how to surmount the challenge of constrained grid supply while delivering a future-ready, all-electric multi-use maritime facility.
Drawing on Arup’s extensive global port electrification work and strong New York City presence, we assess the potential to fully electrify BMT’s port, identifying the potential elements of an all-electric port and exploring the tools of demand management, on-site generation, and energy storage to support utility capacity in meeting potential future power demands.
We intend this concept paper to inspire further discussion and analysis, helping to illuminate BMT’s pathway to becoming an all-electric port that delivers benefits for the maritime industry, the local community, and the wider region.
