Port of Southampton to develop UK’s first Shore Power Terminal by 2022
The port of Southampton, on 17th May, announced its vision to become the first commercial port in the UK to develop terminals equipped with plug-in shore power terminals, according to FleetMon.
It stated: “ABP (Associated British Port), the regulators of the port announced that two out of the five cruise terminals at the port will be developed to have shore-based power facilities by 2022.
“The announcement comes as a part of the progressive policy of increasing usage of sustainable energy at the port as established between the partners ABP and cruise operator Carnival UK. The policy imitates the trends set across Europe to regulate emissions and decarbonize the industry by using shore power for large ships.
“The port authorities announced that the Mayflower cruise terminal currently along with the terminal under development with the partners MSC Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings will be the ones equipped with plug-in shore power connections. The latter is also being termed as the most environment-friendly cruise terminal.
“The original announcement was for developing a shore-side power terminal, but the project was halted because of massive economic loss suffered due to the shut down of the cruise industry in 2020. The project has been reinitiated with help of investments of £8.9 million under the local government’s scheme of Solent Local Enterprise Partnership. The shore power development is another great step towards sustainable cruising by the port as it has the potential to reduce CO2 emissions by 5 MT per year.
Expressing his joy Mr. Alastair Welch, Regional Director at the Port of Southampton said, “We are incredibly proud to be making another significant step as we further develop our sustainable credentials for a cruise with Carnival UK here in Southampton.”
