A new study carried out by DNV, on behalf of Transport &Environment, has shown that Europe’s ports are failing to tackle toxic air pollution. The study reveals that only 20% of the EU’s required electric shore power infrastructure has been installed in major ports, meaning most container ships, cruise ships, and ferries continue to run on fossil fuels while docked.
T&E calls for more ambitious port-side measures to reduce air pollution and unnecessary emissions from moored ships drastically.
Poor performance
As part of the EU Green Deal, EU ports are required to provide shore-side electricity to ships by 2030. But installing shore-side plug in connections today would already improve air pollution in port cities. Of the 31 ports studied, only four have installed or contracted more than half of the required connections.
The ports of Antwerp, Dublin, Gdansk, and Lisbon are among those that are yet to invest in any electric plug-in infrastructure, according to the commissioned study. The ports of Rotterdam, Barcelona, Valencia, Bremerhaven, and Le Havre, on the other hand, perform poorly in terms of their efforts to meet the EU mandate.
‘Game-changer’
Inesa Ulichina, shipping policy officer at T&E, said: “Ports are failing residents and passengers by allowing unnecessary pollution from idling ships. Electric plug-in technology is available and would reduce shipping’s impact on local air pollution and the climate overnight. For shipping segments that spend a lot of time at ports like cruise ships, plugging in would be a game-changer.”
Cruise ships produce more than six times more port-side emissions than container ships because they spend significantly more time at berth. In 2023, Carnival’s 3,500-passenger cruise ship, the Azura, emitted a whopping 22,800 tons of CO2 in European ports. Plugging in at port would eliminate almost all of it and cut the ship’s total yearly emissions by a fifth.
