The Antwerp Port Authority will sign two agreements on March 23rd 2018 at the World Ports Sustainability Program’s event as it looks to provide onshore power for seagoing ships at the port.
Providing onshore power will allow moored ships to turn off their engines and draw power instead from a provided electricity grid.
Moving to this arrangement would see immediate reduction in emissions of NOx and CO2, with major benefits to the local air quality.
The Port of Antwerp will be working with give technical partners to realize this goal, including ABB, Siemens, Techelec, Schneider Electric and Actemium.
Read the “Reduction of Air Emissions through Public-Private Partnerships” technical paper for further discussion of environmental sustainability at ports
Port Authority CEO, Jacques Vandermeiren, said: “Barges have been able to make use of onshore power in the Antwerp port area for some time now. And our own fleet of service vessels has been using onshore power since the beginning of this year.
But currently there are still not enough facilities for seagoing ships.
This is a pity, as onshore power can make a significant contribution to the sustainability transition planned for our port platform.
We therefore see the development of onshore power as a strategic priority for the next few years.”
