Peel Ports Group, Britain’s second largest port operator, has announced plans to establish the UK’s first green shipping corridors between Ireland.
The first routes identified include Belfast to Heysham in Lancashire and Dublin to Birkenhead in Cheshire, supporting plans for Heysham to become the UK’s first net zero port.
Some £100m will be invested by the revenewables group Natpower Marine to develop charging infrastructure for electric vessels at all eight UK and Irish ports operated by Peel Ports Group.
The shipping industry is the engine of the global economy, faciliting over 80 per cent of trade. In the UK, around 95 per cent of trade is transited via ports.
But the sector is also one of the most polluting, accounting for more than three per cent of global CO2 emissions. Shipping firms have been frantically replacing older, heavier vessels with newer, more efficient ones as a looming net-zero deadline of 2050 edges closer.
Over 3,000 vessels cross the Irish Sea every year, emitting 230,000 tonnes of CO2, 20,000 tonnes of nitrous oxide, and 18,000 of sulphur oxide.
In the UK, ministers have pledged to roll out zero-emission shipping routes, shipping routes decarbonised from end to end, at COP27.
Peel Ports’ plans are the first step in a £3bn global charging network planned by NatPower
Marine, for 120 port locations worldwide by 2030.
It says the new electric charging infrastructure will support electric propulsion and cold ironing, the process of accessing clean power while docked to avoid pollution while at the port.
“The proposals presented as part of this partnership are potentially game-changing, and fully support our ambitions to become a net-zero port operator by 2040,” Claudio Veritiero, chief executive of Peel Ports Group, said.
“We look forward to working closely with Natpower Marine to explore the possibilities for establishing the first green shipping corridor between the UK and Ireland, and further enabling support for our customers, shipping lines and hauliers as they transition to a greener future.”
Stefano Sommadossi, chief executive of NatPower Marine, said: “Natpower Marine is investing to deploy the largest global network of charging points to help solve the ‘chicken and egg conundrum’ facing this industry: shipping lines cannot electrify their vessels if port charging infrastructure is not available, and ports are unable to raise capital for charging infrastructure without certainty of demand from shipping lines.
“With marine trade set to triple by 2050, we urgently need to build the global network of clean energy charging infrastructure the industry desperately needs.”
Peel Ports Group operates ports including Liverpool, Heysham, Clydeport and the Manchester Ship Canal. It is majority owned by the northern property tycoon John Whitakker, the former owner of the Trafford Centre in Manchester.