OPG to lead construction of electric ferry infrastructure
Ontario Power Generation (OPG) has announced that it will lead a project to design, build, operate and maintain an on-shore battery storage system and charging infrastructure for the province’s first two hybrid electric passenger and vehicle ferries.
The Amherst Islander II and the Wolfe Islander IV eFerries, which were built for Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation by Damen Shipyards facilities in Romania, arrived in Quebec City late last month, and are on route to Kingston. They will be offloaded and certified by Transport Canada before sailing up the St. Lawrence River to Kingston later this fall.
“Ontario is home to one of the cleanest grids in the world, with 93 percent of our electricity coming from zero emissions energy sources,” said Energy Minister Todd Smith. “Supporting about 1.2 million passenger trips annually, this new charging infrastructure will reduce emissions while building on Ontario and OPG’s position as a leader in electrification.”
OPG is expected to begin construction work on the charging infrastructure early next year, with the project targeted for completion in 2023. Once the terminal infrastructure is complete, the ferries will be the province’s first, completing their trips with onboard battery propulsion, producing zero emissions.
“The clean electricity we produce, combined with our extensive experience with large infrastructure projects, position OPG well to assist in the transition toward decarbonization with tangible projects like electrification of these two ferries,” said OPG President and CEO Ken Hartwick. “Reducing greenhouse gas from transportation, a sector that produces about 30 percent of Ontario’s emissions, is critical to meeting climate change goals.”
Ferries transport approximately 900,000 passengers and 400,000 vehicles between Wolfe Island and Kingston each year, and approximately 300,000 passengers and 145,000 vehicles to and from Amherst Island annually.
The province estimates that over their 60-year lifespan, the ferries will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the equivalent of 446 million kilograms of carbon.
OPG, meanwhile, says electrifying the transportation sector is only one of its many climate-change related actions as it works to be a net-zero company by 2040 and a catalyst for a net-zero economy by 2050.
The company has partnered with Hydro One to develop the Ivy Charging Network, Ontario’s largest electric vehicle charging network. It is also currently working with the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) and Toronto Hydro to design, build, operate and maintain the charging infrastructure to power the TTC’s electric bus fleet.
Featured image: The Wolfe Islander IV electric ferry. (Ontario Power Generation)