FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Cruise Port Authority Debuts First Purpose-Built Electric-Vessel Charging Hub in North America
High-capacity “shore-power-plus” berths will eliminate 1,850 t of CO₂ per cruise call and cut dockside NOx by 90 %, according to peer-reviewed modeling released with the launch.
Miami, FL – November 24, 2025
The Cruise Port Authority today formally opened the continent’s first dedicated electric-vessel charging infrastructure, a 20 MW, three-berth facility that allows cruise ships to draw 100 % renewable power while docked instead of running auxiliary engines. The $88 million project, delivered on time and under budget, is the keystone of the Authority’s pledge to reach net-zero greenhouse-gas emissions across its waterfront operations by 2040.
Designed for post-Panamax and Icon-class hulls, each berth is equipped with robotic cable arms, 6.6 kV/11 kV dual-voltage capability, and on-site battery storage that can shave peak demand by 35 %. The system is compatible with batteries, fuel cells, and hybrid propulsion trains, future-proofing it for next-generation zero-carbon fleets now on order at European and Asian yards. A peer-reviewed life-cycle assessment led by the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School shows the installation will eliminate roughly 1,850 metric tons of CO₂ and 28 kg of diesel particulate matter per average seven-day call—equivalent to removing 400 passenger cars for an entire year.
The project arrives as cruise traffic rebounds above 2019 levels. CLIA’s 2025 State of the Industry Report forecasts 35.7 million global ocean passengers this year, up 6 % from the pre-pandemic high, with 62 % of travelers telling pollsters they “actively prefer” operators that use low-emission port infrastructure . Miami-Dade County, which hosts the world’s busiest cruise passenger port, estimates that the new chargers will save the local health-care system $9.2 million annually in avoided respiratory illness costs once the facility reaches 120 calls per year in 2027.
“This is not a demonstration project—it is production-scale decarbonization,” said Cruise Port Authority CEO Elena Ramírez while throwing the switch on the first live connection to Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas. “Every megawatt-hour delivered here is a megawatt-hour that does not come from heavy fuel oil burned 200 feet from our neighborhoods.” Ramírez noted that the Authority financed 70 % of the build through green bonds placed in June 2024, priced at 3.85 %—40 basis points below conventional debt thanks to certification under the International Capital Market Association’s sustainability taxonomy.
Grid resilience is built into the design. A 10 MWh lithium-iron-phosphate battery array supplied by Florida-based Smart-Grid Marine buffers demand so that the local utility—Florida Power & Light—does not have to spin up marginal natural-gas units during peak afternoon hours. Fast-response inverters can stabilize port-side voltage within 50 milliseconds, a service for which FPL will pay the Authority under a newly approved utility tariff that treats the battery as a dispatchable micro-grid asset.
Construction employed 312 local electrical workers, all trained through an International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers apprenticeship track created expressly for high-voltage marine applications. Union data show wages averaged $38.50 per hour, 22 % above the county median for comparable trades. The Authority has committed to replicate the curriculum at two Florida community colleges starting spring semester 2026.
The Cruise Port Authority will now require every cruise line home-porting in Miami to plug in once the vessel’s onboard battery capacity exceeds 5 MWh or the call length exceeds six hours. Violations incur a $15 per kWh “differential fee” pegged to the social cost of carbon used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Early-adopter lines—Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, and MSC Cruises—have already signed 10-year power-purchase agreements that lock in renewable electricity at 6.3 ¢/kWh, 12 % below the average industrial tariff in South Florida.
About the Cruise Port Authority
The Cruise Port Authority is a special district created by the Florida Legislature in 1971 to operate, regulate, and market cruise passenger terminals in Miami-Dade County. The agency owns five berths, 1.3 million square feet of terminal space, and the 43-acre “PortMiami” uplands that handled 7.3 million revenue passengers in fiscal 2024. Its 2025–2030 Capital Improvement Plan allocates $1.2 billion toward zero-carbon logistics, including shore power, electrified cargo-handling equipment, and a 50-MW rooftop solar program.
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