NatPower Marine and Peel Ports Group are set to commence installation of shore power at Heysham in September 2025, with the first plug live in the initial phase and expansion to four across all berths, by 2026.
This will enable all Heysham routes within the Irish sea to operate with zero emissions while at berth and at sea, supporting full electric propulsion of the ferry services, as the first part of the full electrification of the Irish sea.
Once all four berths at Heysham are electrified, the infrastructure will enable vessels in the Irish sea routes to reduce CO2 emissions by more than 10,000 tonnes per year, alongside significant reductions in NOx and SOx.
The investment is expected to total around £10 million, with NatPower Marine delivering the infrastructure and Peel Ports Group providing site and operational support. The Heysham initiative forms part of a wider £100 million partnership between NatPower Marine and Peel Ports Group to roll out e-ship charging infrastructure for operators in Great Britain and Ireland islands.
To decarbonize the shipping industry, an estimated 4 petawatt-hours (PWh) of clean energy per year is needed – equal to the annual electricity consumption of the US.
Earlier this year, NatPower announced plans to invest in a global charging network covering 120 port locations by 2030.
To ensure the energy used at these ports is clean, NatPower is also developing over 12.5 GW of clean energy GigaParks projects in the UK, with 100 GWh of battery storage capacity, crucial for balancing intermittent demand, such as electric ship requirements for propulsion and cold ironing.
These GigaParks will provide stable, clean electricity to NatPower Marine's UK port network via direct Power Purchasing Agreements or private wires.
