Posted on May 13, 2024
$15 million is flowing into the Port of Savannah, electrifying the nation’s third-largest port.
The port is becoming greener, thanks to two grants from the Federal Highway Administration.
$7.5 million is going to the ports to start a pilot program, replacing fossil fuel with renewable diesel for more than 600 “jockey trucks.”
Georgia Tech will be studying the small trucks, used to haul trailers from one end of the port to the other, over the next four years.
“It’s not just about adding capacity, it’s also about reducing the carbon footprint. Because, clearly what you see here is all of that activity is great here, but you have neighborhoods that are adjacent to these ports. We want to make sure that all of that great economic activity, that supply chain, is not then creating undue burdens on people who live nearby,” Administrator Shailen Bhatt, with the FHWA, told WJCL 22.
Voltera, a company that specializes in commercial EV charging infrastructure, is getting $7.8 million.
“We’ve designed and developed a really large project here that’ll be able to charge over 100 electric trucks simultaneously,” Voltera’s CEO Matt Horton said.
They’ll start construction on the massive recharging site that, once complete, could produce up to 23 megawatts, enough to power more than 17,000 homes at once.
“We are behind in the United States today in terms of our electrification efforts as it relates to China and countries in Europe that are moving very quickly. But we’re catching up fast,” said Horton.
“For the Port of Savannah, which is one of the leading ports in the US, a globally recognized port, they are trying to keep up with what’s going on globally and I think it just reflects their desire to be at the top and it’s just exciting to make that happen,” Bhatt said.
