New hybrid locomotives to help make this yard greener

NORFOLK

There's a new animal roaming Norfolk International Terminal's yard.

The Green Goat, a hybrid locomotive used to push and pull rail cars throughout the terminal, arrived last month and soon will be joined by two additional hybrid units. They'll replace NIT's trio of 1970s diesel locomotives, reducing emissions and fuel costs, said Joe Harris, a spokesman for the Virginia Port Authority, the state agency that owns NIT.

"The old ones were fuel hogs and they were polluters," Harris said. "They served us well for more than 30 years. It was just time to get them out of the fleet and get something that was more efficient."

A bank of lead-acid batteries in the center of the locomotive powers the Green Goat yard switcher and is recharged by a diesel generator. The other units, two RP Series road switchers, are brawnier versions of the yard switcher and run on a combination of battery and diesel engine power. When not in use, the locomotives do not idle like their predecessors, which significantly reduces emissions, Harris said.

The Port Authority bought the locomotives from Railpower Hybrid Technologies Corp. in July for

$3.6 million. The Environmental Protection Agency provided a $750,000 grant for the purchase. The Port Authority and Virginia International Terminals, which operates the authority's three local marine terminals, share the rest of the cost.

The Green Goat alone will save the port about $143,000, or 40 to 60 percent, in fuel each year.

It will reduce emissions of nitrogen oxide and particulate matter, which contribute to poor air quality, by 80 to 90 percent, Harris said.

The RP Series road switchers will offer similar emissions reductions and save 20 to 35 percent in annual fuel costs, he said. They're due to arrive this year or in early spring.

"With the money we save in fuel, efficiency, maintenance and overall operating cost, these machines will pay for their own way over just a few years," Heather Mantz, the Port Authority's director of environmental affairs, said in a statement. "The second part to the equation is the reduction in emissions."

The Port Authority will lease the units for three years before completing the purchase, Harris said. NIT will return its three old locomotives to Norfolk Southern Corp., which has leased the units to the terminal for the past 30 years.

The purchase came just before budget cuts - $1.4 million for the Port Authority and $10 million for VIT - were announced this fall. They're trimming expenses for the 2009 fiscal year, which started July 1, because the weak economy has stymied imports, hurting revenue.

The new locomotives are another step in the port's "effort to be a better neighbor in terms of the environment," Harris said.

They'll also help the port stay a step ahead of state and federal air-quality regulations.

"A lot of what we've done in the last year or two is ahead of any federal mandate," Harris said.

"It's easier to do it now. It's easier and more economical. You can get all the bugs ironed out."

Kathy Adams, (757) 446-2583, kathy.adams@pilotonline.com