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The RFP follows on the heels of B.C. Ferries buying two battery-powered Island Class vessels for short island hops in the Strait of Georgia. Two of them are on a 10,305-nautical mile sail from Romania, where they were built, and will be operated as all-electric ferries “when electric-charging technology matures,” according to B.C. Ferries’ website.

In the interim, the ships will use an on-board, low-sulphur diesel hybrid system.

The new Island Class will carry 47 vehicles and 300 to 450 passengers, and navigate short routes such as Powell River-Texada Island and Port McNeill-Alert Bay-Sointula. Four more are on order and expected in 2022.

SeaBus service was introduced in 1977, when two aluminum catamarans plied the water. The last of those two, the Burrard Beaver, will be retired in five to seven years, according to the RFP.

TransLink has targeted 2050 as the year it hopes to have reduced greenhouse-gas emissions by 80 per cent, and the year by which it will use 100-per-cent renewable energy in all fleet and facilities operations.

“Currently, clean technology is used by almost half of our (bus) fleet,” Murphy said. “This includes four battery electric buses with six more on the way, 262 electric trolleys, 299 compressed natural gas buses, and 466 hybrid diesel electric buses.

“Our SkyTrain rail network is also powered by electricity, moving millions of people each year using clean energy from B.C. Hydro’s grid.”

TransLink operates three SeaBuses at the moment, with a fourth scheduled to join the fleet in 2020.

The RFP asks that proposals emphasize the sustainability of each potential option while identifying “impacts on vessel design and life-cycle cost, environmental and emissions impacts, infrastructure impacts, and operating impact.”

gordmcintyre@postmedia.com

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