ESPO welcomes first reading agreement on Clean Fuel Strategy

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Clear view of what is expected of European ports and stakeholders

The negotiators for the European Parliament and the Council reached an informal first reading agreement on the Clean Fuel Strategy. If confirmed by EP’s Transport Committee and Plenary, the Directive could still be adopted before the EU elections and finalised under the Greek Presidency.

“We would like to congratulate the negotiators for reaching this agreement. European ports and stakeholders now have a clear view of what is expected from them and can start or continue working towards that goal. The obligations foreseen in this Directive imply quite some investments and planning for the port authorities and port industry. We are convinced that this Directive together with the funding opportunities that will be offered under the forthcoming TEN-T calls will enhance the use of cleaner fuels in maritime transport in a realistic way. We also believe that a lot of ports will not wait for 2025 to meet the obligations of this Directive”, says ESPO’s Secretary-General Isabelle Ryckbost.

The two issues of importance to ports in this Directive are the framework for the supply of shore side electricity and the obligations as regards the provision of refuelling points for LNG in ports.

On shore side, Member States must ensure that the need for shore-side electricity supply for inland waterway vessels and sea-going ships in maritime ports is assessed in their national policy frameworks. Such shore-side electricity supply shall be installed, as a priority in ports of the TEN-T Core Network, and in other ports, by 31 December 2025, unless there is no demand, the costs are disproportionate to the benefits, including environmental benefits.

As regards the LNG refuelling points, Member States must ensure that an appropriate number of refuelling points for LNG are put in place at maritime ports to enable LNG inland waterway vessels or sea-going ships to circulate throughout the TEN-T Core Network by 31 December 2025 at the latest. Member States must cooperate with neighbouring Member States where necessary to ensure adequate coverage of the network.

Source: ESPO

Measures proposed on Clean Fuel Strategy

Biofuels: already have nearly 5% of the market. They work as blended fuels and do not require any specific infrastructure.A key challenge will be to ensure their sustainability.
Natural Gas (Liquefied (LNG) and Compressed (CNG): LNG is used for waterborne transport both at sea and on inland waterways. LNG infrastructure for fuelling vessels is at a very early stage, with only Sweden having a small scale LNG bunkering facility for sea going vessels, with plans in several other Member States. The Commission is proposing that LNG refuelling stations be installed in all 139 maritime and inland ports on the Trans European Core Network by 2020 and respectively 2025. These are not major gas terminals, but either fixed or mobile refuelling stations. This covers all major EU ports.
LNG: Liquefied natural gas is also used for trucks, but there are only 38 filling stations in the EU. The Commission is proposing that by 2020, refuelling stations are installed every 400 km along the roads of the Trans European Core Network.
LPG: Liquefied petroleum gas.No action is foreseen for LPG, the core infrastructure is already established.

Tags: ESPO