Power supply: No to stop-starting

More permanent mechanisms to advance power concepts need to be put in place by Washington D.C. to advance power concepts.

In recent months, issues surrounding power sourcing have risen to feature strongly in my mind, driven by an interest in (or disdain for, depending on the audience) data centres. Though removed from the jousting on nightly news shows, the port community has a vital interest in these discussions. Recent news from Washington, D.C. tied to overall maritime revitalisation shows a pair of ports (one on the West Coast and one in the US Gulf) cooperating with the Feds on maritime revitalisation- and this includes examination of how port infrastructure (which requires electricity) might utilise small modular reactors (SMRs). This fresh approach comes at a time of enormous disruptions of energy trade flows, which do affect power in the ports, so port planners looking ahead at infrastructure demands should keep watching the early efforts.

Some folks have problems with anything having the words “nuclear” or “reactor” attached; the problems that I have here are more concerning, the words “Democrats” and “Republicans.” The technologies have been proven, including on Navy vessels. Put simply, building up infrastructure for supporting movements of containers, or bulk cargoes including petroleum and its products, takes time – like decades.

With the election cycle’s four-year timeframe (or two years, if you look at the all-important “midterm”” contests), there is a danger that efforts to advance SMRs (or maybe some other power source suitable for ports) may advance and then face continual “stop-start.”

This story was originally published by Port Strategy. Read the full story at Port Strategy →