A new container port in Bayonne, New Jersey is being built by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and though it will consume as much energy as 2,000 homes, all of the electricity in its wires will be generated by the wind, Euclid Infotech reported.

The new port is currently under construction, and a series of giant windmills will follow soon after. The port authority has set aside a 70 acre area just east of the Global Terminal where large container ships will dock to build five 288-foot tall turbines.

The new container port is being built to accommodate cargo ships that are too large to pass under the BayonneBridge, where smaller ships are unloaded in the Elizabeth and Newark ports.
Officials are expecting the new port to expand the intake of the port four-fold from its current 323,000 containers annually.

“It is a big port and its installation could seriously weigh down the power grid in New Jersey. Windmills seem like the perfect way to energise the new shipping area. They will be placed on a nearby peninsula where winds whip almost constantly,’’ said Bill Baroni, deputy executive director of the port authority.

The authority recently vowed to lower their greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent of 2006 levels by 2050 and they hope that this project will be one large step in the right direction.