Government must fund ship to shore power units to improve air quality in UK ports
4 min read
Shadow Minister for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy & Southampton Test MP Dr Alan Whitehead writes in advance of his adjournment debate on 'Air quality and shore to ship charging'.
The city I represent is home to one of the UK's largest ports. Southampton’s thriving port hosts large numbers of container vessels, roll-on roll-off ships transporting vehicles, along with being the main UK base for cruise ships.
Southampton is also one of 18 UK cities facing potential infraction proceedings due to its air quality and it is those ships, welcome though they are in the port, that contribute to that air quality problem. Of particular issue is that they are required to run their diesel engines to heat and light themselves whilst they are berthed.
A large cruise liner at berth can get through 2500 litres of fuel an hour just keeping itself going. It need not be like this. Ports in a number of parts of the world – the United States, the far east and some parts of Europe have installed shore to ship electrical supplies – essentially a very large plug deriving electrical supply from local power that goes into a large socket on the ship at berth to take over the running of the ships power when in port.
Shore to ship power is a very simple and relatively low cost alternative to ships powering themselves when in ports close to densely populated areas. It potentially makes money for ships at berth, since it is cheaper to run on local power than burn fuel whilst in port. It certainly saves on emissions: a recent study in the United States showed that ships using shore power in one location saved 99% of their nitrous oxide emissions and between 60 and 70% of particulate emissions.
The problem is, that there are no shore to ship facilities installed in Southampton, or indeed anywhere else in the UK. To the credit of Southampton port, they are investigating whether they can install facilities in one cruise liner berth, but as far as I know they are alone in this pursuit.
The arguments put forward to do nothing are multiple and familiar – not enough ships have the facilities to ‘plug in’ so it would be a waste of money: it is too expensive to take the plunge unilaterally, there are other ways in which emissions might be reduced from ships. All these arguments have some grounds, but unless charging facilities are available in ports ships will not be incentivised to equip themselves to plug in.
Equipping all of Britain’s major and medium sized ports would probably come to about £100 million, but would largely be recovered in fees in subsequent years: and whilst vessels are making efforts to run on cleaner fuels such as liquid petroleum gas whilst in port, nothing comes close to the benefit of shore to ship supply.
My call to the government in the adjournment debate I am holding in the House of Commons today is to call for shore to ship installations to go ahead via both carrot and stick. The UK Government should agree to provide assistance in funding this infrastructure, and it should give notice of an intention to mandate the use of these plugs by a specified date.
Indeed, an EU directive already states that shore to ship points should be installed in major ports by 2025 – a directive the government has said it could implement in the UK, but has taken no action on to date.
Southampton should not be put in the position, if it proceeds with shore power, of ‘going it alone’. It will be far more powerful both for making the case to ports and for ensuring that ships are properly equipped to use shore power if everyone knows that the UK is on course to oblige such supply. To smooth the path the UK government should help part fund the building of this infrastructure.
As a result the residents of those coastal cities hosting air pollution problems as well as the welcome vessels that visit, providing trade, tourism and jobs, would breathe a little easier.
Dr Alan Whitehead is the Labour MP for Southampton, Test
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