31 March 2025
Europe’s ports fully support the decarbonisation efforts to be made by shipping companies to get to net-zero by 2050. While it seems that energy efficiency measures, use of onshore power supply and use of transition and renewable/low carbon fuels will allow shipping companies to comply with the EU emission reduction targets in a first phase, the European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO) understands shipping must look at a broad array of new fuel types to further continue to reduce the emissions and achieve the ultimate aim to become net-zero by mid-century. Ports in Europe are engaged to do whatever is possible within their role and remit to facilitate this process.
Ports in Europe are getting ready for a growing demand from the sector to use these fuels and thus the decision of fuel suppliers to invest and provide these fuels in ports.
For port managing bodies to be ready for these new fuels, it requires them in the first place to identify the criteria and areas for safe and efficient bunkering of a specific new fuel in their port, to make the risk assessment of bunkering a specific fuel in the given environment, and to develop the specific rules and protocols to be respected by the fuels suppliers and shipping companies. These tasks are in line with the core role of Europe’s port managing bodies to ensure the safety of port operations, in which Europe’s ports are already playing a frontrunners role and want to strengthen this position.
In addition, ESPO sees a clear engagement of ports in line with their community building role to facilitate the roll out of new fuels by bringing together stakeholders and work together with shipping companies and all companies involved within the value chain of fuel supply to run pilots and do trials, whenever there is a request from the sector. Green corridors are already in practise and are developing further.
This must allow ports to welcome fuel suppliers who wish to respond to a growing market demand in an efficient and appropriate way.
Ports firmly believes that it is the demand of new fuels that will stimulate fuel producers and suppliers to take the investment decision and provide these fuels to the shipping companies.
The investment appetite and investment need of fuel producers and suppliers can vary from port to port. Some ports in Europe are by their location and/or lack of economies of scale not of interest to the bunkering market and do only provide bunkering services in rare cases. Some ports will because of their close urban environment be excluded as bunkering ports for certain fuels. On the other end, ports that are real hubs of energy and cluster industries can more easily attract the investors and importers of fuels since these can combine the different uses of the energy.
ESPO believes that the demand for new fuels and the role of the market in developing a clean fuel supply chain should be further incentivised, while leaving the flexibility on the choice of fuels to the market.
At the same time, ESPO pleads for a policy that more actively supports the market development of e-fuels and e-feedstock through a more pragmatic approach as regards the source of CO2 that can be used in the production of e-fuels and with respect to RFNBO requirements during the transition phase.
ESPO hopes that the revenues from the Innovation Fund can be earmarked and used to both stimulate the demand for new clean fuels, the market scaling up of these fuels and last but not least to assist ports in their efforts and investments to be ready to accommodate the market demand. ESPO also calls at Member States to allocate the home-coming maritime ETS revenues back to the sector.
