New regulations on shore power management for ports and ships are in the pipeline, and penalties will be imposed for not using or not providing shore power
In the Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, Bohai Rim and Yangtze River, ship emissions are one of the main sources of air pollution.
New regulations on the management of shore power for ports and ships are in the pipeline, so as to further reduce the emission of air pollutants during ship calls and ensure the safe and standardized use of shore power by ships at port.
On March 28, the Ministry of Transport released the "Measures for the Administration of Shore Power of Ports and Ships (Revised Draft for Comments)". According to the technical department of the water transport bureau of the ministry, the revised draft adds requirements for the construction and renovation of shore power facilities for coastal port operators and the construction and renovation of power receiving facilities for coastal waterway transport operators, penalties for ships berthing at coastal ports that do not use shore power in accordance with regulations, and penalties for coastal port operators and shore power supply enterprises that do not provide shore power in accordance with regulations.
Marine fuels emit sulphur oxides (SOx), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter (PM) into the atmosphere during combustion, which have serious impacts on ecosystems and adversely affect human health.
The results show that the air pollutant emissions from ships at the port account for 60%-80% of the entire port emissions, which has a great impact on the environment around the port. In the Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, Bohai Rim and Yangtze River, ship emissions are one of the main sources of air pollution.
The use of shore power at port means that during the port call or anchorage of ships, the use of ship diesel generators is stopped, and the land power supply is used to supply power to the ship's onboard power system, so as to effectively reduce the emission of pollutants from ships. The use of shore power by ships at port is the most effective measure to reduce air pollutants and carbon dioxide emissions during berthing.
The first financial reporter learned from the Ministry of Transport that in December 2019, the Ministry of Transport issued the "Measures for the Management of Shore Power in Ports and Ships", which for the first time made systematic provisions on the construction and use, service and safety, supervision and inspection of shore power in the form of regulations. The Measures stipulate that ships with power receiving facilities (except for liquid cargo ships) shall use shore power if they berth for more than 3 hours at berths with shore power supply capacity at coastal ports and more than 2 hours at berths with shore power supply capacity at inland ports, and do not use effective alternative measures.
According to the Yangtze River Navigation Administration of the Ministry of Transport, at present, the use of shore power for ships in the Yangtze River basin is better. As of the first half of 2023, the power receiving facilities of more than 15,000 transport ships in the Yangtze River basin have been upgraded and upgraded. More than 430,000 ships in the Yangtze River basin used shore power at ports, with more than 51.18 million kWh. The shore power facilities of key large-scale passenger transport, commercial vehicle ro-ro and container terminal berths on the Yangtze River trunk line are basically fully covered, and the installation rate of shore power facilities at berths of non-liquid cargo production and operation terminals has reached 86.6%.
In Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province, in the National Inland Water Transport Transformation and Development Demonstration Zone, a bulk carrier is supplying power to the ship through a charging pile. Photography / Zhang Ke
However, previous surveys by many institutions have found that problems such as the low utilization rate of shore power for cargo ships in ports are still prominent, and the coordinated goals and measures for pollution reduction and carbon reduction are still lacking. According to a survey report by the Asian Center for Clean Air and other institutions, "although the shore power construction target has been well achieved, the problem of low shore power utilization is still prominent." According to the survey data released by a number of institutions in 2022, the utilization rate of shore power for port cargo ships ranges from 3.8% to 54.7%, with an average of 17%, which is less than two percent, which is far from the goal of "promoting the normalization of shore power". In the past few years, due to the epidemic, some cities have basically stopped using shore power.
Peng Chuansheng, chief researcher of the Water Transport Research Institute of the Ministry of Transport, said that the world's leading ports require eligible ships to use shore power when calling at port. Such mandatory measures have greatly increased the utilization rate of shore power, and the utilization rate of shore power at the port can exceed 80%, regardless of whether it is a shipping company or a ship called at the port.
The Marine Environmental Protection Law stipulates that "local people's governments at or above the county level in coastal areas shall formulate plans for the construction and renovation of facilities such as port shore power and ship power reception, and organize their implementation". Article 6 of the Draft Amendment stipulates that port operators shall, in accordance with laws and regulations, mandatory standards and relevant national regulations, gradually implement the transformation of shore power facilities at existing terminals (except for oil, gas and chemical terminals). Port operators in the Yangtze River basin and coastal areas shall carry out the construction and renovation in accordance with the plan for the construction and renovation of port shore power facilities formulated by the local people's government; Article 10 stipulates that if a Chinese ship berthing in an air pollution emission control area needs to meet the requirements of air pollution emissions and install additional ship power receiving facilities, the corresponding water transport operator shall formulate a plan for the installation of ship power receiving facilities and organize its implementation.
For ships berthing at coastal ports that do not use shore power in accordance with regulations, the Draft Amendment stipulates that penalties shall be imposed according to the total power of the ship's generator sets, and the maritime safety administration shall order them to make corrections within a time limit. If a coastal port operator or a shore power supply enterprise fails to provide shore power in accordance with regulations, the revised draft clarifies that the local transportation (port) department shall order correction and impose a fine depending on the severity of the circumstances.
Shenzhen is one of the earliest port cities in China to subsidize the use of low-sulfur oil and shore power for ships, and the "Implementation Rules for the Subsidy Fund for Port and Shipping in the Field of Green Transportation Construction of Shenzhen Transportation Special Fund" determines that the subsidy coefficient of shore power electricity price will be 20% in 2023, 30% in 2024, and 40% in 2025. The subsidy price of shore power in Shenzhen Port is calculated by the linkage of oil and electricity, and the charging price of shore power is about 0.4 yuan/kWh.
Since the beginning of this year, the upgrading of shore power facilities in some provinces is accelerating. This year, Anhui Province proposed to speed up the upgrading and transformation of shore power facilities at wharves and promote the normalization of the use of shore power by ships calling at ports. This year, the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Transportation has made clear its responsibilities in terms of ecological and environmental protection, and the "ship-port-city" coordinated governance. Strengthen the supervision and management of pollutants from ships, and promote the construction of shore power facilities in ports.
