By
Alex Smith |
Portsmouth City Council’s cabinet has approved a strategy to provide shore power for passenger ships calling at Portsmouth International Port in the UK.
The council, which owns and operates the port, agreed to support the port’s efforts subject to funding being secured. The strategy includes the short-term development of a battery storage solution for providing shore power to smaller cruise vessels, as well as a long-term goal of supplying all vessels that visit the port.
The port has already installed a battery controlled by artificial intelligence, which was funded by UK government agency Innovate UK. This will be combined with a new battery storage system that is being installed alongside a solar array, allowing the port to supply small cruise ships. Cruise operator Noble Caledonia has agreed to upgrade its vessels to make use of shore power when the project goes ahead.
The port is also now exploring options to increase the amount of power available to allow shore power provision to be rolled out to all of its berths.
“We're determined to be industry leaders when it comes to sustainability,” said Mike Sellers, port director at Portsmouth International Port. “This innovative approach, which incorporates existing technologies already available or planned at the port, means we can look to have shore power up and running by the end of 2022 for smaller cruise ships. We're supporting Maritime UK's call for significant government funding in the spending review to support these changes, so that levels of investment are similar to the aviation sector, which gets significant support.”
Portsmouth City Council’s Cabinet also committed to continue its support for the port’s green recovery sustainability strategy. This includes the development of a hydrogen electrolyser at the port, rolling out the current fuel filtering project, and constructing and piloting an external fine particle filter at the port boundary.
“As a port operating in the heart of a major city, and that is owned by the people of Portsmouth, we have an obligation to do everything we can to minimise our impact as we continue to grow sustainably in the coming years,” said Jerry Clarke, senior project manager at Portsmouth International Port. "I'm incredibly proud to have led on the improvements we've made in the past two decades and thank the council for their support as we move towards our net-zero carbon and zero-emissions goals."