Connor Bennett

Connor is a Naval Architect for Aurora Marine Design based in San Diego California. He is a graduate of the prestigious. Webb Institute a specialist college offering only one option. A dual Bachelors in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering.

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Presentation

San Francisco Bay’s Water Emergency Transportation Authority's transition to zero emission vessels

San Francisco Bay’s Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA) provides an important means of transportation in the Bay Area and provides emergency services when support is required. To comply with new California Air Resources Board (CARB) regulations and continue to be a leader in the sector, WETA developed a Blueprint to transition their fleet of ferries to zero-emission vessels (ZEVs) by 2035. The Blueprint was funded through California Energy Commission (CEC) grants and led by Arup and Aurora Marine Design (AMD). The Blueprint focuses on the vessel-side analyses and terminal infrastructure requirements of electrifying the fleets. This presentation will review key findings, including optimal ferry routes, projected peak energy demands, and the impacts of interconnecting battery energy storage systems. The presentation will also review the current challenges and solutions that WETA is navigating with electrifying their fleet and infrastructure. This includes understanding space constraints at the terminals, grid capacity constraints, and optimal solutions for reducing time and costs associated with zero-emission fleet implementation.