EU Ports Call For FuelEU Clarity

Europe’s ports have welcomed the review of the current AFIR proposal accompanied by provisions in the new FuelEU Maritime Proposal requiring vessels to use shore-side electricity infrastructure at berth.

But they want alignment of requirements between what ports need to do and the obligations for shipping lines, including a full alignment of Article 9 of the AFIR proposal with Articles 4 and 5, as well as with Annex III of the FuelEU Maritime proposal.

”For years we have been discussing the ‘chicken and egg problem’ as a barrier to making real progress in greening of shipping,” said Isabelle Ryckbost, ESPO’s Secretary General.

”Let’s now work together with all policy makers and stakeholders to move forward towards investing in technologies that are effectively being used and that lead to effectively reducing the emissions of shipping, both at berth and during navigation.”

Need for collaboration

For Europe’s ports, shore side electricity (SSE) is an important instrument to reduce emissions of shipping at berth, but ESPO said it has to be deployed where it makes most sense in terms of delivering cost-effective reductions of greenhouse gases at berth.

Prioritisation is essential in that respect. For ESPO, it would be more effective to define the scope based on a minimum level of traffic volume per terminal (instead of per port) to prioritise busy terminals and avoid underused capacity being installed.

The focus on certain segments of shipping should however not be seen as an exemption for the other segments of shipping from the requirement to lower emissions at berth.

ESPO said that the AFIR proposal currently only addresses the shore side electricity installation in the port, thereby overlooking the issues of grid connectivity, grid capacity and grid conversion.

These should also be tackled in the proposals as they are essential to make installed SSE operational. Installing grid converters, connecting to and upgrading the grid can be required to ensure the supply of shore-side electrical power to certain vessels. Such installations and upgrades are often outside the remit of the port authority/port managing body.

In addition, ESPO calls for a consultation mechanism to aid in the application of the requirements of the AFIR and FuelEU Maritime. To allow ports to optimise their investments as much as possible and ensure that they function well, individual ports need to be able to plan ahead.

Ms Ryckbost said that ports need to know if a shipping operator intends to use onshore power supply or rather one of the other alternative technologies foreseen in the Annex III of the proposal. Moreover, ports should know what power needs vessels will have when at berth, in order to plan for sufficient SSE capacity during a given call.

A first exchange of view on the AFIR and FuelEU proposals in the European Parliament TRAN committee is scheduled on 1 December.