In the latest news, five seaports in northwestern Europe have agreed to work together to make shipping cleaner. The goal of the project is to provide shore-based electricity for large container ships in the ports of Rotterdam, Antwerp, Hamburg, Bremen and Haropa (including Le Havre) by 2028, so that they do not need to use the ship’s power when they are berthing. Power Equipment. The ships will then be connected to the main power grid via cables, which is good for air quality and climate, because it means lower nitrogen and carbon dioxide emissions.
Complete 8 to 10 shore power projects by 2025
Allard Castelein, CEO of the Port of Rotterdam Authority, said: “All public berths in the Port of Rotterdam have provided shore-based power connections for inland vessels. The StenaLine in Hoek van Holland and the Heerema berth in Calandkanaal are also equipped with shore power. Last year, we started. An ambitious plan to complete 8 to 10 shore power projects by 2025. Now, this international cooperation effort is also underway. This partnership is vital to the success of shore power, and we will coordinate how the port Dealing with shore-based power. It should lead to standardization, cost reduction, and speed up the application of shore-based power, while maintaining a level playing field between ports.
The implementation of onshore power is complicated. For example, in the future, there are uncertainties in both European and other countries’ policies, that is, whether onshore power should be mandatory. Therefore, it is necessary to formulate international regulations so that the port that takes the lead in achieving sustainable development will not lose its competitive position.
At present, investment in shore power is inevitable: major infrastructure investments are required, and these investments are inseparable from government support. In addition, there are still too few off-the-shelf solutions to integrate shore power on congested terminals. Currently, only a few container ships are equipped with shore-based power sources. Therefore, European terminals do not have shore-based power facilities for large container ships, and this is where investment is needed. Finally, the current tax rules are not conducive to onshore electricity, because electricity is currently not subject to energy taxes, and ship fuel is tax-free in most ports.
Provide shore-based power for container ships by 2028
Therefore, the ports of Rotterdam, Antwerp, Hamburg, Bremen and Haropa (Le Havre, Rouen and Paris) have agreed to make a joint commitment to provide shore-based power facilities for container ships above 114,000 TEU by 2028. In this area, it is increasingly common for new ships to be equipped with on-shore power connections.
In order to demonstrate their commitment and make a clear statement, these ports signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) stating that they will make every effort to create the necessary conditions and a level playing field to promote the provision of onshore power to their customers.
In addition, these ports collectively called for the establishment of a clear European institutional regulatory framework for the use of shore-based power or equivalent alternatives. These ports also require exemption from energy tax on shore-based power and require sufficient public funds to implement these shore-based power projects.
Post time: Sep-30-2021