Carnival Corporation Rolls Out Energy Saving Technology

Carnival Corporation will be rolling out Service Power Packages across its global fleet to achieve its 2030 sustainability goals and 2050 aspirations to become carbon neutral. 

The power packages will enable Carnival Corporation to save up to 150 million USD per year on fuel costs and includes upgrades to lighting onboard, more efficient air conditioning systems, and automation of ship systems.

Carnival Corporation to save $150 million in annual fuel cost

Cruise companies are investing heavily into making their ships more efficient, ensuring that they manage the goals set out in the 2050 sustainability goals, which include being carbon neutral by that year. 

To achieve this, Carnival Corporation will be rolling out new power-saving packages across the global fleet through 2023. Cruise lines that will benefit from the upgraded systems include Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Seabourn, P&O Cruises (Australia), Costa Cruises, AIDA Cruises, P&O Cruises (UK), and Cunard.

Once installed, the new upgrades will be able to deliver fuel savings of up to 5-10% per year, cutting greenhouse emissions by more than 500,000 metric tons. The program will not just mean environmental benefits; the financial upside is considerable.

The fuel savings will enable Carnival Corporation to save over $150 million yearly, a massive amount, and welcome with rising fuel prices worldwide. 

The company’s emission-reducing efforts started already back in 2011 when the world’s largest cruise line saw the most significant amount of pollution in its history. Since then, the company has removed several older vessels from its fleet, invested $350 million in energy efficiency improvements, and introduced six LNG-powered cruise ships:

Bill Burke, chief maritime officer for Carnival Corporation: “Based on our improved fleet composition, including adding six industry-leading LNG-powered ships, and our previous investments to increase efficiency and reduce emissions, our absolute carbon emissions peaked in 2011 despite significant capacity growth over the past decade. These tailored Service Power Packages further build on those efforts as part of our comprehensive approach to sustainability.”

What Upgrades Will Carnival Corporation Make?

The upgrades, already installed on several ships, will continue through 2023 until all of the vessels in the fleet are covered. They include comprehensive upgrades to the HVAC systems onboard each vessel, which accounts for more than 25% of the ship’s energy consumption.

Air will also be filtered using new air filtration systems and ultraviolet-C treatment throughout. Carnival will install state-of-the-art LED lighting systems, reducing power consumption and heat generated by lighting. 

All new systems will be controllable from shoreside, ensuring that improved instrumentation and automated management systems can be maintained and operated remotely, which will guarantee all systems work at peak performance at all times. 

Carnival has committed itself to achieving several environmental goals that will be beneficial to the company financially and decrease the impact the cruise ships have on the environment. These include reducing carbon emission intensity by 20% from its 2019 baseline by 2030, and supporting its efforts and aspirations to achieve net carbon-neutral ship operations by 2050.