Southern California’s Marine Exchange goes Green

The group has marked the completion of the Renewable Energy Project (REP) – a solar and wind power system that generates all the electricity the Marine Exchange needs to support its high-tech operations for tracking all vessels entering and leaving Southern California waters from San Diego to Port Hueneme and all ship movements within 100 miles of San Pedro Bay.

The Marine Exchange is a non-profit organisation whose Vessel Traffic Service uses state-of-the art electronic radar equipment, radio communications and computer systems to track nearly 5,000 vessels annually. The Marine Exchange is also an information broker whose real-time data is used by the public and private sectors for purposes ranging from emergency search-and-rescue missions to long-range business planning.

Designed and built over more than two years, the US$450,000 REP means the Marine Exchange’s 24-7 operations now run on electricity generated by a sustainable network of 286 solar panels and four wind turbines. The system generates more than 87 kW, enough capacity to support the Marine Exchange’s 55-60 kW power needs and feed the surplus to the city’s power grid.