Optimizing Terminal and Vessel Selection for Shore Power Deployment: Case Study at the Port of Houston

The maritime industry has a substantial impact on the environment and public health, particularly through ship operations and port-related activities. Shore power (SP) offers a promising solution by allowing docked ships to connect to local electrical grids, thereby reducing auxiliary engine usage during hotelling. One of the key challenges to SP adoption is the substantial amount of investment required from both port authorities and ship owners or operators. In this study, an optimization framework is developed to allocate a limited budget for SP deployment at terminals and subsidies, to encourage commercial ship retrofitting to maximize the environmental and economic benefits of SP. The framework takes account of the perspectives of ship owners and operators, port authorities, and the government to reflect the interactions in their decision-making. The framework is applied to the Port of Houston, based on commercial ship hotelling activities at its public terminals in 2022. The results demonstrate that, with an annualized budget of $5.5 million, up to 50% of SP-eligible hotelling activities can be powered by SP; this can generate substantial environmental and economic benefits. Additionally, the results indicate that the cost of SP electricity to ship operators plays a critical role in balancing economic incentives between ports and ship owners in the adoption of SP. Sensitivity analysis confirms the framework’s robustness to several key environmental and economic factors and assumptions. The proposed framework can serve as a practical decision-support tool for coordinate between stakeholders and ensure that limited resources generate the greatest possible environmental and economic benefit.