German seaports welcome the introduction of a European limit for carbon emissions for all seagoing and inland waterway vessels at berth.
They add however, that the responsible parties at the port management companies are sceptical as to whether the EU’s proposal to expand shore power is the right strategy to obtain a sustainable reduction in emissions by shipping.
If they operate with 100 percent renewable power, on-grid land-based power supply facilities can be an effective measure to reduce emissions from seagoing and inland waterway vessels docked in port, but not for every port, not for every berth, and not for every ship
German seaports stated.
More specifically, providing on-grid shore power facilities for about 550 berths for seagoing vessels at the German ports would require investments of billions of euros. These investments would have to be borne by the taxpayer and by the ports without any significant support from the ship operators who are responsible for causing the emissions.
Moreover, only certain ships would have to use the provided shore power facilities. This would cause a situation where one vessel would be obliged to use shore power when moored at a berth with a shore power connection, while another unregulated vessel at the same berth would still be allowed to burn fossil fuels.
As for the “Fit for 55” package, German Seaports note that while they endorse it, they believe that the solution focus needs to be open to all technologies and thus permit, for instance, the use of fuels from renewable energy sources.
Such fuels can reduce carbon emissions and air pollutants not only at the berth, but also while the vessel is in operation at sea, and would thus achieve reductions on a much bigger scale
Evaluation of the EU Approach
The efforts of the German Federal Government and the EU Commission to reduce emissions are viewed positively, while the proposal from the EU Commission to regulate CO2 emissions from docked ships is also seen as an important step. However, the following points in the Commission’s proposal must be viewed critically:
#1 The level playing field is not implemented consistently
The proposed regulation only pertains to selected classes and sizes of ships. A large part of shipping is thus exempted from the reduction of CO2 emissions at berth, which would lead to distortion of competition.
#2 Technological bias
Only onshore power, fuel cells, and batteries are permitted as zero emission technologies. The German seaports are of the opinion that other solutions, such as use of regenerative fuels from non-biological sources, also offer substantial potential to reduce CO2 emissions. This technology would also provide for a reduction of ships’ emissions at sea (which account for approximately 95 percent of the total emissions from ships) as well as at berth.
#3 The Polluter Pays Principle is not applied
According to the current EU plans – contrary to the polluter pays principle –, ports would be required to provide shoreside power on all quays where the regulated types of ships berth (around 550 berths for seagoing ships in German ports). There is no differentiation between heavily and lightly frequented
berths. The economic impact of the necessary investments is not taken into account and according to current plans the shipping companies would only cover a part of the costs. Public funding will thus be needed to launch new technology and fuels on the market, but in the long run the costs must be carried by the ship operators themselves.
EXPLORE MORE AT GERMAN SEAPORTS’ REPORT ON ZERO EMISSIONS
