Ports of Stockholm set to apply for EU funding

Ports of Stockholm has been given the green light from the Swedish Government to apply for EU funding for three sustainability initiatives.

The major focus of the projects is the development of the electricity infrastructure, in support of the transition to greener shipping by lowering quayside air particle emissions.

The approval covers all three applications from Ports of Stockholm, in collaboration with other ports, to be submitted to the EU Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) to apply for grant funding.

“Together with other ports and stakeholders, we want to enable the rapid and safe expansion of onshore power connections for vessels at the quayside throughout the entire Baltic Sea region. This positive decision from the Swedish Government shows the increased electrification of the transport sector, with a focus on shipping, is a prioritized area. This expansion will result in a greater ability to meet our own and the EU environmental goals,” says Jens Holm, Chair of the Board of Ports of Stockholm.

The development of onshore power connections for container and passenger ships in core ports is one of the 2030 targets of the EU climate goals and “Fit for 55” conversion to greener shipping policy.

“National and international collaborations with other ports and stakeholders in these types of projects are important factors for future success in achieving environmentally beneficial results for port operations and shipping in general. We see an obvious added value in using external funding in the form of EU grants to be able to accelerate our environmental initiatives, in this case our proposals for onshore power connections at the quayside,” explains Lotta Andersson, Public Affairs and EU Coordinator.

If the projects are awarded EU funding, they will run between 2024 and 2025, or until 2026 at the latest.

The initiatives in the applications include:

Shore-side electricity supply for container ships in Core Network Ports of the North and Baltic Sea

1. The goal is to meet the EU 2030 targets as soon as possible for onshore power connections for container ships at the quayside in TEN-T ports for more than two hours.
2. In addition to Ports of Stockholm, the collaboration also involves the ports in Gothenburg, Århus, Bremerhaven, Oslo and Hamburg, as well as the Danish container shipping company Unifeeder.

Baltic Ports for Climate – onshore power supply pre-investment phase

1. The goal is to accelerate and ensure the development of onshore power supply (OPS) in the Baltic Sea region.
2. Ports of Stockholm will focus on pilot studies of onshore power development at the Värtahamnen, Frihamnen and Stadsgården Ports.
3. The collaboration includes six other TEN-T core ports: Klaipėda, Riga, Tallinn, Hamburg, Gdynia and Gdańsk.
4. Ports of Stockholm, with support from the Baltic Ports Organisation (BPO), is the coordinator for the application.

Upgrade of the Motorways of the Sea (MOS) connection Stockholm-Riga

1. The goal is to reduce the climate impact of the passenger terminals in Stockholm and Riga and to create a sustainable basis for the future reintroduction of the extremely important shipping services between both capital cities.
2. The infrastructure at the Värtahamnen Port in Stockholm will be upgraded and the existing ferry terminal in Riga will be relocated to a site outside the city centre.

The majority of the regular ferry services to and from Stockholm and Nynäshamn already connect to onshore power. During 2023 the Port of Kapellskär and the Stadsgården quays were equipped with new onshore power connections at the quays for ferries and cruise ships.