Scotland’s largest maritime decarbonisation project is now live at Port of Aberdeen, providing green shore power for vessels at eight berths in the port’s North Harbour. The concept of shore power is simple: allowing vessels to plug directly into power from the port’s renewable energy tariff, instead of running on their own fossil fuel auxiliary engines while at berth – saving on fuel and cutting CO2 emissions, pollution, and noise, the Port Authority said.
For Port of Aberdeen, a Trust Port at the heart of the community with ambitions to be the UK’s first port to achieve net zero by 2040, the impact will be significant.
The new infrastructure, installed by PowerCon, the market leader in shore power technology, could cut up to 60,000 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent over the next 20 years. This would remove the emissions equivalent of around 2,140 cars from the road every year.
The first vessel to be connected to the new system was OSM Thome’s NS Iona, one of five vessels retrofitted to accept shore power as part of the project.
The newly electrified berths are part of the ‘Shore Power in Operation’ demonstrator, supported by the Department for Transport’s Zero Emissions, Vessels and Infrastructure (ZEVI) competition funded by UK Government and delivered in partnership with Innovate UK. This joint public-private partnership at Port of Aberdeen represents a combined investment of £4 million in new clean energy infrastructure.
The port has also installed shore power infrastructure to service vessels on two berths Regent Quay as part of Bibby Marine’s electric Service Operation Vessel ZEVI project. Additionally, work is almost complete to install shore power infrastructure for Serco NorthLink’s passenger ferries, funded by Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited. This adds to the port’s existing shore power facilities which supports operational activities for its renewable energy customers and towage providers.
Longer-term, Port of Aberdeen has ambitions to expand its shore power infrastructure to supply green electricity at more berths throughout its 7,600m quayside. New Tyndall research also sets out how UK Government policy changes could support faster deployment of shore power at other ports.
“Port of Aberdeen’s net zero journey has taken a significant step forward. Our Shore Power in Operation demonstrator is the single biggest maritime decarbonisation project in Scotland to date. It represents a £4 million investment in clean energy and will be a game-changer for Port of Aberdeen and our valued customers, who will benefit from an 80% reduction in their carbon emissions while at berth,” says Bob Sanguinetti, CEO, Port of Aberdeen.
The Shore Power in Operation project is part of the Zero Emissions Vessels and Infrastructure competition (ZEVI), which was announced in February 2023, funded by UK Government and delivered in partnership with Innovate UK. As part of ZEVI, the Department for Transport allocated over £80m to 10 flagship projects supported by 52 organisations from across the UK to deliver real world demonstration R&D projects in clean maritime solutions. Projects take place in multiple locations from the Orkney Isles to the south west of England
Port of Aberdeen led an industry and academic consortium, including OSM Offshore, Tidewater Marine UK Ltd, Connected Places Catapult and the University of Manchester’s Tyndall Centre, with support from Buro Happold and Energy Systems Catapult, to deliver the ground-breaking initiative.