Scaling up shore power: a blueprint for the future

Bridging the gap

Shipping is the most energy efficient method of transporting freight, and as such, it has an increasingly important role to play as we navigate the route to net zero. This presents a huge and unchartered opportunity for the industry to expand, innovate and modernise, laying the groundwork for a more sustainable future.

There’s no doubt impressive innovation is supporting the sector in its push towards decarbonisation. But while greener fuel solutions are on the horizon, it’s going to be several decades before these are in widespread use. 

Shore power, on the other hand, is a relatively well-advanced technology, poised to take the baton and enable us to get on with the job of decarbonisation across ports right now. With a significant gap to plug, it’s a crucial piece of the puzzle supporting the long-term transition to greener fuels. But, while shore power technology might not be a new invention, innovation is necessary in order to make it workable on an industrial scale.  

Technical turbulence 

Currently, the UK has no large-scale shore power provision. There are multiple and complex reasons for this – not least power supply and funding – but a key barrier is the extensive technical requirements associated with integration. 

In 2023, AtkinsRéalis was commissioned by Portsmouth International Port to assist in the design and delivery of the largest shore power project in the UK, supporting it to meet an ambitious 2030 net zero target, and to be the UK’s first zero emission port by 2050. This project enabled us to identify key challenges blocking progress across UK ports, and work out how best to tackle them by mobilising our multidisciplinary experts and leaning on longstanding relationships throughout the industry. 

With a maritime history dating back hundreds of years, and with the port in its current form being active since 1976, Portsmouth has a complicated infrastructure legacy. With extensions, bolt-ons and a range of old structures in the mix – often with patchy documentation – it was challenging to get a grip of what we were dealing with. But with support from colleagues across our infrastructure team, and by using our sophisticated mapping tools, we were able to piece together necessary information to design safe and efficient plans. 
 
We know that as a major player in the UK economy, it’s essential for ports to remain fully operational throughout any proposed work. With many different vessel types, all with differing technical specifications, and berths ranging in shape and size, there’s a lot to consider. Strong relationships and effective engagement with key port and vessel operator stakeholders meant we were able to build a comprehensive understanding of the many variables relating to vessel data, conduct berth and port assessments, identify connection point locations and map out electrical routing to present realistic options to successfully integrate shore power. 

When it comes to provision of shore power equipment, the market isn’t quite ready to scale up. We have a situation with several key market disrupters, developing new products at pace, which is great news for innovation, but not so great for launching shore power at scale. It means there is no standard equipment and no go-to supplier – it means different ports could end up with completely incompatible set ups. While it’s clear the sector needs to establish a standardised supply chain, AtkinsRéalis has worked hard to develop relationships with electric suppliers and build a thorough understanding of the products available in order to recommend the best possible options. 

Plugging in to shore power 

Implementing shore power at large ports is complex. It requires meticulous planning, substantial investment, and collaboration between stakeholders. But technical challenges are manageable with the right expertise, relationships and resources; and financial challenges can be met by the development of convincing evidence-based business cases.

Our work in Portsmouth represents a threshold moment for UK shore power, leading by example to demonstrate that large-scale projects can be achieved with the right support.

As well as being able to help build business cases and advise on funding opportunities, AtkinsRéalis has established relationships with National Grid so we can work with clients to effectively address power supply issues. We’ve shown that we can overcome the technical challenges outlined above by calling on the expertise of our multidisciplinary teams, enabling us to deliver the whole package. We have the scope and the competence to bring all the elements together and present a cohesive technical solution that takes all the complexities of an individual site, the variations of disparate vessel types and the nuances of a relatively new supply chain into account. 

Portsmouth has enabled us to speed up the scoping stage of any future project – we’ve invested the time building the right relationships and getting to know the products. We’ve built up the tools to assess and unpick legacy infrastructure and coordinate technical requirements. This body of knowledge means the sector now has the momentum to sail through scoping, and get to detailed design faster. 

While government funding and incentives are undoubtedly part of the puzzle, we’ve shown that with support from design consultants, technical and operational challenges can be overcome. With Portsmouth acting as a valuable blueprint for future projects, shore power is on course to become a vital part of an integrated approach to tackling in-port emissions.