Many ports are investing in cleaner technologies and environmentally friendly operating practices

 The companies teamed up with the port authority’s JaxPort Express initiative to win a $23.5m grant from the US Department of Transportation in October. Nationwide, the department awarded about $703m to 41 port projects by using money from the Inflation Reduction Act signed into law by President Joe Biden.

Approximately $150m of the awards were for electrification projects at ports including Jacksonville. Eric Green, CEO, JaxPort, called it a “significant milestone” in building a “port of the future”.

The federal grant will go toward a total of $47m of projects at the Talleyrand and Blount Island terminals for electrified refrigerated container stacks, hybrid electric rubber-tyred gantry cranes, battery-powered electric forklifts and yard tractors, installation of fast-charging stations, and developing a plan for moving the port and local maritime industry toward zero-emission technologies.

The technology coming from the federal grant is already in use on the West Coast and is moving now to East Coast ports, says Nick Primrose, chief of regulatory compliance for JaxPort.

“This is the first of its kind in Florida for such a large public-private partnership investment in low and zero-emission cargo handling equipment,” he says.

He adds, beyond the environmental benefits, increased electrification also has financial advantages because of the high cost of diesel fuel. The new equipment coming to JaxPort will cut diesel fuel usage by 12.3 million gallons over 20 years, Primrose says.

Aside from the new equipment such as rubber-tyred gantry cranes that move around the terminal to move containers, JaxPort has started to modernise the Blount Island terminal during reconstruction of its berths so the bigger dockside cranes that move containers on and off ships can plug into electric power.

Blount Island has three fully electric dockside cranes now and will add three more this month with capacity for ten.

Elsewhere, Konecranes is celebrating after it received an A- rating in CDP’s annual climate programme, recognition of its efforts to make holistic climate disclosures and climate risk and opportunities management a business norm. The measurement is based on the company’s disclosures about its actions to cut emissions, manage and mitigate climate risks, and develop a low-carbon offering.

“This is a great achievement, and I am pleased that our commitment to climate change efforts and our long-term commitment towards sustainability have been recognised. We are in a unique position to help other industries shift to a low-carbon future by offering solutions which intensify decarbonisation and advance electrification,” says Anniina Virta- Toikka, head, sustainability, Konecranes.

“We have a clear climate roadmap for years to come. We are taking action in both our own operations and throughout our value chain.

“In 2022, we started using our first electrified service vehicles and continued conducting energy efficiency improvements in our manufacturing operations. In the value chain, our primary focus is on electrifying our offering while developing digitalisation and automation as well as minimising emissions from steel.”

EUROPEAN ELECTRIFICATION

In Europe, Nidec ASI was recently awarded two turnkey projects for electrification of the quays of the passenger ports of Genoa and Savona in Italy.

The Western Ligurian Sea Port Authority has assigned the executive design and works to the temporary joint venture (TJV) of which Nidec ASI is the leading company, and in which Ceisis and the Molfino & Longo civil engineering firm are consortium partners.

For Genoa, the order was acquired in June and the design phase has already started, while the order for the contract relating to the port of Savona was signed in September. It is estimated that both projects will be completed in two to three years.

Thanks to the electric power supply systems for ships developed by Nidec ASI in Genoa and Savona, it will be possible to reduce emissions and noise pollution with positive impacts on inhabitants and tourists in the areas bordering the two ports, which are both located inside the cities, while at the same time having minimal impact on the operation of the ports.

In Genoa, the project envisages six berths, which will allow the cruise ships and ferries docked at the port to switch off their onboard generators and connect to the electricity grid to meet their operational needs.

The two orders comply with EU directives that, since 2003, encourage ports to adopt quays electrification systems (shore-to-ship) to reduce polluting emissions of vessels in the port, while maintaining heating and air conditioning running, as well as the necessary vessel auxiliary systems. By 2025 this recommendation will become binding for all European ports.

The planned investments for modernising the ports of Genoa and Savona, co-financed by the European Investment Bank (EIB), are worth a total of €789m and include initiatives such as moving the breakwater in Genoa, ‘cold ironing’ (the electrification of the quays), restructuring the port moorings and IT security.

“These ambitious projects confirm our leadership in the development of shore-to-ship systems in Europe and in Italy. The two initiatives where we are protagonists represent a fundamental step in the process aimed at reducing the environmental impact of port activities, a central theme for promoting a sustainable development model in Italy and in Europe and that we trust will kick off many other similar projects for Italian ports, after the Ligurian ones, which have led the way,” says Dominique Llonch, CEO, Nidec ASI.

These new projects – together with other shore-to-ship systems implemented last year in Malta and in southern France, as well as those in the development phase in Greece and Spain, and other major initiatives, such as the supply of battery storage systems for onboard energy for full-electric and hybrid cargo ships, ferries and yachts, and solutions for automating cranes used in ports – allow Nidec ASI to capitalise on the evolution of the maritime and port sector towards all-electric.

In the UK, Associated British Ports (ABP) has become the first British port operator to trial a hydrogen-fuelled tractor at its container terminal at the Port of Immingham, located on the south bank of the Humber Estuary.

Many ports are investing in cleaner technologies and environmentally friendly operating practices