NatPower Marine and UK port operator, Peel Ports Group have announced plans to establish a ‘green shipping corridor’ between Ireland and the UK
Both parties have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) towards developing green corridors and onshore infrastructure at Peel Group’s ports in the two countries. The proposal will see NatPower Marine, part of the UK’s NatPower Group, develop Britain’s first commercial electric ship charging network to support electric propulsion and cold ironing – the process of accessing clean power while docked to avoid significant engine pollution while at the port – as part of a wider global network.
The dedicated charging infrastructure will reportedly require an outlay of an estimated £100M (US$127M) across eight UK and Irish ports operated by Peel Ports. The master plan will also include electric car, van and HGV chargers installed for commercial electric vehicles passing through the ports.
More than 3,000 vessels cross the Irish Sea every year, emitting 230,000 tonnes of CO2, 20,000 tonnes of nitrous oxide (NOx), and 18,000 of sulphur oxide (SOx). Onshore electric charging in port could help dramatically reduce these emissions.
NatPower Marine said this is the first step, part of wider plans in a planned £3.0Bn (US$3.8Bn) global charging network across 120 ports worldwide by 2030. It hopes to work with port operators to develop the sites and act as the long-term operator of the global charging network.
The first Irish Sea routes identified in the proposals include Belfast-Heysham and Dublin-Birkenhead. Peel Port has previously stated ambitions to make Heysham Port in Lancashire the UK’s first net-zero port.
Shipping accounts for a significant percentage of nitrous oxide (NOx) and sulphur oxide (SOx) emissions every year. One sixth of these emissions are produced while ships are berthed at port, running auxiliary engines for power, which can have a significant impact on the environment and local communities around ports.
New regulation seeks to curtail these emissions with shipping lines increasingly encouraged to electrify both at-port operations and at-sea propulsion.
The industry expects the demand for electrification to increase considerably and NatPower Marine estimates the industry will need up to 4 petawatt-hours (PWh) of clean energy per year – equal to the annual electricity consumption of the USA.
Upfront investment remains the biggest barrier to change; shipping lines cannot electrify their vessels in the absence of port charging infrastructure and ports are unable to raise capital for charging infrastructure without certainty of demand from shipping lines.
NatPower Marine chief executive Stefano Sommadossi said the company’s investment will help solve this ‘chicken and egg conundrum.’ Founded in 2019, NatPower is backed by the French construction company Vinci, which has invested approximately €50M (US$54M) in NatPower, encompassing the acquisition of 10% of the company’s share capital from its founder Fabrizio Zago and from the Tyrus Capital fund.
With infrastructure in place at ports and terminals across global shipping routes, it is hoped that shipping companies will have the confidence to transition their fleets and opt for charging services directly from NatPower Marine at each port they service. Mr Sommadossi said, “With marine trade set to triple by 2050, we urgently need to build the global network of clean energy charging infrastructure the industry desperately needs.”
NatPower Marine is also developing a 15-GW clean energy GigaParks projects in the UK, with 60 GWh of battery storage capacity, crucial for balancing intermittent demand such as electric ship requirements for propulsion and cold ironing. These parks will provide stable clean electricity to NatPower Marine’s UK port network via direct power purchase agreements, or private wires.
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