Scotland’s largest maritime decarbonization project is now live at the Port of Aberdeen, providing green shore power for vessels at eight berths in the port’s North Harbour.
The concept of shore power is simple: allowing vessels to plug directly into power from the port’s renewable energy tariff, instead of running on their own fossil fuel auxiliary engines while at berth, saving on fuel and cutting CO2 emissions, pollution, and noise.
For Port of Aberdeen, a Trust Port at the heart of the community with ambitions to be the UK’s first port to achieve net zero by 2040, the impact will be significant.
The new infrastructure, installed by PowerCon, could cut up to 60,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent over the next 20 years. This would remove the emissions equivalent of around 2,140 cars from the road every year.
The first vessel to be connected to the new system was OSM Thome’s NS Iona, one of five vessels retrofitted to accept shore power as part of the project.
“This is a major achievement for Port of Aberdeen and I am proud to have supported it through the UK SHORE programme - it shows what can be achieved when we put our full energy behind decarbonisation,” said Mike Kane, Maritime Minister.
The newly electrified berths are part of the ‘Shore Power in Operation’ demonstrator, supported by the Department for Transport’s Zero Emissions, Vessels and Infrastructure (ZEVI) competition funded by U.K. Government and delivered in partnership with Innovate U.K.
The port has also installed shore power infrastructure to service vessels on two berths Regent Quay as part of Bibby Marine’s electric Service Operation Vessel ZEVI project.
Additionally, work is almost complete to install shore power infrastructure for Serco NorthLink’s passenger ferries, funded by Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited. This adds to the port’s existing shore power facilities which supports operational activities for its renewable energy customers and towage providers.
Longer-term, Port of Aberdeen has ambitions to expand its shore power infrastructure to supply green electricity at more berths throughout its 7,600m quayside.
“Port of Aberdeen’s net zero journey has taken a significant step forward. Our Shore Power in Operation demonstrator is the single biggest maritime decarbonisation project in Scotland to date.
“We’re in the business of clean energy, and we’re driving and supporting the energy transition in the North Sea. That’s why it’s so important that we’re leading from the front – investing in the future of the port and a cleaner, greener way of working which benefits our environment, community and customers as we strive for net zero by 2040,” added Bob Sanguinetti, CEO, Port of Aberdeen.
Port of Aberdeen led an industry and academic consortium, including OSM Offshore, Tidewater Marine UK, Connected Places Catapult and the University of Manchester’s Tyndall Centre, with support from Buro Happold and Energy Systems Catapult, to deliver the initiative.