Shipping executives gathered at the European Shipping Summit’s seminar, “Shore Power offers promising carbon cuts – are we on track?”, have called for a significant expansion of funding to develop shore power infrastructure. The seminar, co-hosted by Interferry and CLIA, took place on 19 March in Brussels.

Moderated by Claes Berglund of Stena, the panel discussion featured Isabelle Ryckbost, secretary general of ESPO, Inesa Ulichina, sustainable shipping officer at Transport & Environment, and Jørgen Bjerre of the European Commission. The event attracted a broad range of policymakers and regulatory stakeholders from the European Parliament and Commission, as well as ferry and shipping executives.

Industry representatives highlighted that current funding models predominantly focus on Onshore Power Supply (OPS) connections at berth, without fully considering the requirement for ferries to charge their onboard batteries for propulsion during crossings. Executives argued for a more comprehensive approach, advocating for investment across the entire energy supply chain from power generation to port infrastructure, including upgrades to port electrical grids and energy networks.