A grant from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy's (EGLE) Fuel Transformation Program (FTP) will help fund the first electric-powered Mackinac Island ferry.
A $3.06 million grant will help convert the ferry from two 1988 diesel engines to two brand new electric propulsion motors on the Chippewa, one of the Mackinac Island Ferry Company's (MIFC) passenger ferries.
The conversion is expected to reduce gas emissions by 14,152 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents and 887 metric tons of nitrogen oxides over the boat’s lifetime. The project will begin immediately as part of a two- to three-year overhaul that will redesign and modernize the vessel's hull and appearance.
“The ferry trip to Mackinac Island is Michigan at its best — a view of our two peninsulas and the Mighty Mac while gliding through our Great Lakes. Now, with a new grant from EGLE, one of the iconic island ferry fleets is switching to electric, ensuring that this Pure Michigan journey is more cost-effective and sustainable for decades to come,” said Governor Gretchen Whitmer in a prepared statement. “We are continuing to make investments to lead the future of mobility and electrification, so we can grow our economy, create good-paying jobs, and lower energy costs for families and businesses. Our mobility leadership must extend from electric cars and buses on the road to industrial power and watercraft, too.
“Converting a ferry in the Mackinac fleet to electric will build on our clean-energy leadership and help us achieve the goals of the MI Healthy Climate Plan to make our state carbon-neutral by 2050. The budget I put forward includes several investments in this space, and today’s ferry grant is another step forward as we build a brighter future for Michigan.”
The grant covers half the cost of the project.
The project includes installing 1.5 megawatts in shore power infrastructure at the Mackinaw City ferry dock, as electric power upgrades are also planned for the ports of St. Ignace and Mackinac Island.
“This project is a first critical step in the strategy to upgrade and modernize marine transportation in the Straits of Mackinac,” said director Chris Byrnes of the Mackinac Economic Alliance (MEA). “Of course, Mackinac Island is famous for alternative modes of transportation, as cars are not allowed on the island. Everyone walks, rides bikes or horses and, of course, ferry boats, so the island is already a Michigan leader in alternative forms of transportation.”
The Chippewa, built in 1962, is expected to carry 250-300 passengers after the electric conversion and MIFC’s redesign and modernization of the vessel.
After converting the Chippewa to electric power, MIFC also plans to upgrade the propulsion systems on its other seven steel vessels that operate passenger or freight service to Mackinac Island. MIFC will evaluate its seven high-speed aluminum passenger vessels for upgrades to electric or hybrid electric propulsion.
The Chippewa conversion is a pilot project for electrification of 28 Mackinac Island ferries in all.
The project is the first initiative from the Mackinac Island Transportation Master Plan, conducted by the Michigan Department of Transportation in a larger initiative to modernize the ferry fleet and freight ships serving the region, which includes transition from fossil fuels, supported by creating local shipbuilding and servicing jobs and a marine industry training hub.
A separate FTP Part 2 grant of $2.18 million to the city of Sault Ste. Marie in the Upper Peninsula will cover approximately two-thirds of the cost to install electric shore power at an international dock just downstream from the Soo Locks
It is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 9,405 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents and 650 metric tons of nitrogen oxides, over the project’s lifespan.
The shore power, supplied by nearly 50 per cent renewable energy, will reduce the need for docked vessels to idle their diesel engines. Part of the match for the project comes from a 2018 federal grant of $20.7 million awarded to the City of Sault Ste. Marie to rehabilitate the Carbide Dock Port.
