Europe’s ports are not doing enough to tackle toxic air pollution, a new study looking at major European ports shows.
The study “European ports unplugged: The state of shore power infrastructure” , carried out by DNV, on behalf of Transport & Environment, shows that to date just 20% of the EU’s required electric shore power infrastructure has been installed or commissioned in major ports , meaning most containerships, cruise ships and ferries continue to run on fossil fuels while docked.
T&E calls for more ambitious port-side measures to cut air pollution and unnecessary emissions from moored ships.
Over 6% of the EU maritime CO2 emissions come from ships running on fossil fuels at ports. Alongside CO2, ships also emit high amounts of sulphur oxides (SOx), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter (PM), which have significant effects on human health.
As part of the EU Green Deal , EU ports are required to provide shore-side electricity to ships by 2030. This measure will allow ships to plug into the local electricity grid while docked, replacing the use of fossil-fuel auxiliary engines and reducing harmful emissions.
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However, 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 also perform poorly in terms of their efforts to meet the EU mandate.
The ports of Algeciras and Hamburg account for a large share of the installed onshore power supply (OPS) connections in Europe . The ports of Algeciras, Livorno, Świnoujście and Valletta are the only ones that have installed or contracted more than half of the required OPS installations.
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“Ports are failing local residents and passengers by allowing unnecessary pollution from moored 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 gamechanger,” Inesa Ulichina , Shipping Policy Officer at T&E, commented.
Because they spend significantly more time at berth, cruise ships produce more than six times more port-side emissions than containerships. In 2023, Carnival’s 3,500-passenger cruise ship, the Azura, emitted a whopping 22,800 tonnes 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.
T&E has called on the EU to bring forward shore power requirements for cruise ships to 2028 , ensure ports can earn clean energy credits when ships plug in, dedicate more EU funding for port electrification, and expand the rules to cover all polluting ships, not just the largest passenger and containerships.