REGULATION
UK LAUNCHES CONSULTATION ON SHORE POWER The UK government launched a consultation in February 2022 to form a fully considered cost/benefit analysis around the proposed introduction of shore power charging in the UK
CONSULTATION AREAS There are three broad areas that are being addressed by the consultation. The first covers the potential role of the government in helping to coordinate the development of shore power connections, as well as wider information sharing. While the Decarbonisation Tool for Ports that was launched by the National Grid in September 2021 has helped to capture the energy demand from some of the UK’s myriad smaller ports, there is still some uncertainty about current and future requirements. Obtaining a more accurate estimate of the cost of grid strengthening to extend higher capacity grid connections to smaller ports is expected to be one of the key deliverables from the consultation. The second focuses on the potential for the UK to impose requirements for the use of shore power connections, both on ports and vessels calling at UK ports. This could also include a requirement for vessels and ports to report on the usage of shore power. Critics have warned that introducing requirements for higher standards than competing countries could disadvantage UK shipbuilding and discourage investment in UK-domiciled fleets. The consultation is intended to obtain detailed information about the scale of vessel emissions at berth, the actual potential of shore power alongside other technologies in reducing emissions, the barriers to the commercial take-up of shore power and the impact of potential solutions to enable the roll out of this technology. MARKET-BASED MEASURES However, it is the suggestion that the consultation could see the UK introduce its own market-based measures to incentivise the adoption of shore power by vessel and port operators that has provoked the strongest responses. The president of the UK Chamber of Shipping, John Denholm, addressed the issue directly in a speech delivered shortly after the launch of the consultation, warning the UK against establishing a national Emission Trading Scheme modelled along the lines of the EU’s regional model. “A plethora of regional market-based measures would put a terrible burden on our industry, depress trade and would
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Credit: UK Chamber of Shipping
The announcement by the UK government that it was launching a fresh consultation around the vexed issue of shore power connections in the UK has come as no surprise to market participants. The consultation was originally expected to be launched before the end of 2021. It is asking the industry to provide detailed submissions around different options outlined below. The consultation will run from 7 February 2022 until 25 April 2022. The responses to the consultation will help to inform further policy development work, as part of the Clean Maritime Plan. The final actual proposals will form part of the 2023 refresh of the Clean Maritime Plan Mark Simmonds, director of policy and external affairs at the British Ports Association told The Motorship.
inevitably be inequitable. Instead, we ask you to campaign against nations setting up regional or national market-based measures.” LOCAL FACTORS Finally, the consultation document directly addresses a number of local obstacles to the accelerated roll-out of shore-power connections in the UK. The economics of the use of shore power connections for ship owners and operators remains uncertain at best, and unsupportive at worst. Put simply, electricity prices in the UK are among the highest in Europe. The consultation document notes that ship owners and operators in Norway, by comparison, enjoy some of the lowest prices of electricity for commercial users in Europe. The current requirement for end-users to directly contribute to the cost of grid strengthening work could potentially be replaced from early 2023, if a proposal by the energy regulator is accepted. The report identifies supply and demand issues as an obstacle to ports investing in shore power connections more widely, and speculates that the prohibitive cost of shore power retrofits may act as a barrier to adoption. Up until the present, few port operators in the UK have shown any interest in installing shore power connections in the UK. Commercial installations have until now been limited to Orkney and Southampton. Natasha Gray, Corporate Communications Manager at Associated British Ports stressed that the shore power facility for cruise ships at the port of Southampton would contribute to lowered emissions at the port. “By introducing the option for cruise ships, with onboard capability, to plug in while alongside, the port could start seeing CO2 emission savings of up to 863 kg in CO2 and 10.5 kg of Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) per vessel call each year,” she concluded.
8 The port of Orkney installed the UK’s first intermediate voltage shore power connection in 2020
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