Port Detroit Innovation Terminal: Decarbonizing Ports
The Great Lakes region ports face mounting pressure to decarbonize vessels and cargo handling equipment, modernize aging infrastructure, attract innovation capital, and deliver equitable workforce outcomes, while maintaining revenue-generating operations.
Seeking a pragmatic, fundable pathway to integrate technology testing, training, and applied research into a working innovation terminal, Port Detroit retained Ramboll to develop a feasibility roadmap.
We are leading a feasibility study to transform an existing parcel at Port Detroit into a Maritime and Multimodal Innovation Terminal, advancing decarbonization, workforce development, and technology commercialization across the Great Lakes supply chain. Located in Detroit, Michigan, USA, the project launched in early 2026 and will conclude with a comprehensive, decision-ready feasibility package within six months. The study builds on prior engineering and planning work completed by the port and its partners, focusing on validating a single selected terminal site rather than conducting a full multi-site screening.
Ramboll, in partnership with HR&A Advisors, is structuring the study around five integrated tasks: market validation, site and infrastructure confirmation, economic and workforce impact analysis, governance and funding strategy, and final implementation integration. Work includes:
- Validating priority market segments (e.g., vessel decarbonization and port equipment innovation)
- Conducting a targeted infrastructure audit and gap analysis
- Developing conceptual site configurations with phased implementation
- Preparing order-of-magnitude capital and operating considerations
- Quantifying economic and equitable workforce impacts
- Designing governance and funding models suited to Detroit’s institutional context
The results of the study will provide a scalable, sustainability-driven blueprint for positioning Detroit as a national testbed for maritime innovation, and will include:
- A comprehensive feasibility report
- Conceptual terminal configurations and phasing strategies
- Capital cost ranges and operational implications
- A funding and implementation roadmap
- Board of Directors and public-ready presentation materials
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