With increasing numbers of ports committing to the Shore Power Declaration worldwide, ship-owners and operators could avail of a potentially simple route to reduced emissions, says Jon Halvard Bolstad Olsen, Head of Shore Power at Yara Marine Technologies.

With a stern decarbonisation mandate set in place by the 175 IMO member states, shipping is on a pathway to greener operations. While low carbon fuels are - understandably - seen as the most direct pathway to GHG fuels, technologies to make vessels more efficient by reducing fuel consumption (regardless of clean or dirty fuel) are also gaining traction. One option that is seeing increased global take up at sea and on land is shore-power, which is also referred to as cold ironing.

In a nutshell, shore power technology offers ship operators (with appropriate equipment installed) the opportunity to plug their vessels into charging stations when in port (which must be equipped with sympathetic technologies) and use electricity for ship operations. This means that vessels would not run their main engines at port, reducing both fuel use and also impact on the shore infrastructure and local populations via fewer vibrations and less noise. Were the ports in question able to source green electricity - perhaps from solar, hydro or wind, the equation becomes even more sustainable.