The country's first port "zero-carbon" storage yard is here!
In autumn, Yancheng Port, containers are neatly arranged, terminal bridge cranes are busy lifting, and vehicles shuttle in an orderly manner, creating a busy and vibrant scene.
Recently, Jiangsu Yancheng Port automated container yard (Hereinafter referred to as the yard) Obtained the "Organization of Carbon Neutralization Verification Statement" issued by TUV Süddeutsche Group, becoming the first yard project in a domestic port to obtain "Carbon Neutralization" certification. In the verification statement, the group stated that "the total greenhouse gas emissions of categories 1-4 from August 1, 2023 to July 31, 2024 have reached carbon neutrality for the Yancheng Port Automated Container Yard", confirming that they meet the requirements of the standard.
Yancheng Port, interviewees provided maps.
As Yancheng Port builds a low (zero) An important practice in carbon ports, the yard has set "zero carbon" as a goal since its establishment. So, how does it achieve zero-carbon operation, and what green codes are there behind it?
Green electricity + new energy, win-win economic and environmental benefits
"By using green electricity to optimize the energy structure, promote new energy equipment and intelligent management, energy consumption and carbon emissions have been significantly reduced, and the 'zero-carbon' operational goal has been fully achieved." The person in charge of Yancheng Port Shipping Group told the China Environment News reporter.
Dafeng District, Yancheng City, Jiangsu Province, has 112 kilometers of coastline and nearly 5000 square kilometers of sea area. It has unique advantages in wind power development. At present, the green electricity in the yard mainly comes from wind power and photovoltaic power generation, with the usage reaching 75%.
"Comprehensively build a 'green electricity' energy microgrid to achieve a clean energy structure in the yard. The yard and the wind power development company have reached a cooperation to develop wind power specifically for the yard. Currently, wind power usage in the yard accounts for 55%. At the same time, full coverage of photovoltaic panels will be promoted to solve 20% of the site's electricity consumption. From January to September this year, a total of 532,800 kilowatt-hours of photovoltaic power were generated, reducing carbon emissions by 498.75 tons." The person in charge of Yancheng Port Shipping Group said.
As a container yard, daily operations use various mobile machinery such as cranes, stackers, forklifts, and trucks. In the past, fuel equipment was used. Nowadays, all storage yards have introduced electric new energy equipment to achieve "oil-free" storage yards.
Will the use of new energy equipment increase costs? "In terms of economic benefits, new energy equipment has a large investment in the early stage, but if it can be used for more than 5 years, a win-win situation for economic and environmental benefits can be achieved." The person in charge of Yancheng Port Shipping Group said,"Taking a stacker as an example, the price of fuel machines on the market is more than 1.3 million yuan, while the price of new energy equipment is 1.7 million yuan. However, during use, electricity is more favorable than fuel, and maintenance costs are low. After a certain number of years, new energy will become cheaper and cheaper."
Yancheng Port, interviewees provided maps.
Taking into account the mileage limit of onshore new energy equipment, the yard also makes full use of existing inland river electric container ships to carry out the Haihe intermodal "shuttle bus" business, creating the country's first "zero-carbon" full-chain logistics from inland river transportation to vehicle short lighters to the yard for loading and unloading of containers to the terminal.
Unmanned operation improves efficiency and reduces energy consumption
Standing in the Dafeng Port Container Terminal Automation Control Center, the operating system issued an order and the new energy electric container truck went to the yard. Two rail crane drivers remotely monitored the four automated rail cranes, accurately positioned them, and instantly completed the grabbing and unloading of containers.
In the 400-acre yard, no one is seen except for the truck collector driver.
This is also the first automated container yard along the coast of Jiangsu, with an annual container turnover of 1 million TEU. It is understood that the yard integrates the construction of automated unmanned rail cranes, intelligent integrated TOS systems, digital twins and other systems, realizing unmanned operation of yard operations, unmanned rail cranes, unmanned gates, and unmanned containers. Intelligent management such as cargo handling and unmanned monitoring of power distribution rooms.
Technology empowerment has brought about improvements in efficiency and changes in green and smart management methods.
Through intelligent management, the ratio of remote control of yard equipment reaches 1:6, labor investment is reduced by 80%, box grabbing efficiency is increased by more than 35%, single box operation time is shortened to two minutes, and yard equipment operation efficiency is increased by more than 30%. When a truck enters the gate, the comprehensive testing system automatically releases the truck and container after identifying the information, which is 75% shorter than the manual gate crossing time.
"In the past, workers had to climb to the cockpit more than 20 meters high to operate the crane. Today, manual corrections are only needed when deviations occur." Yin Xiaosuo, an employee of the yard operation team, felt the changes brought by automation during his work."Today, the terminal yard can complete the hoisting of 32 containers per hour, doubling the efficiency and reducing energy consumption."
"In terms of smart security, the yard strives to promote the transformation of civil air defense to technical defense, realizing all-round image surveillance functions through full-court video coverage, perimeter alarm systems, and intelligent video analysis systems." Su Wei, the person in charge of the central control room of the yard, told reporters,"Automated monitoring replaces the original manual inspection and realizes intelligent monitoring of multiple scenes in the yard. When abnormal conditions occur, an alarm can be immediately issued to ensure the safety of the port area."
Digital technology is playing an important role in improving management efficiency and promoting the green and low-carbon transformation of enterprises. "The yard has also established a comprehensive energy management platform to visualize and trace new energy and power data so as to reasonably allocate and optimize energy consumption." Su Wei said,"We also intelligently manage yard air conditioning systems, power distribution rooms, customs gates and other facilities, and purchase container yard high-pole lamp remote lighting control systems to achieve energy-saving and intelligent lighting.
Live towards the green and follow the green. The green practice of "zero-carbon storage yard" is a microcosm of Yancheng Port's "carbon" search for the future. "As the first batch of carbon peak and carbon neutrality pilot enterprises in Jiangsu, Yancheng Port will continue to explore feasible paths to optimize the construction of 'carbon neutrality', bravely be the pioneer of the 'carbon' road, actively lay out the deep integration of innovation chains and industrial chains, and strive to create low (zero) Carbon Port." The person in charge of Yancheng Port Shipping Group said.
