Germany to oblige ships to turn off engines in ports and use power grid instead

Ships entering German port cities will become obliged to turn off their combustion engines for the duration of their stopover and use electricity from the local grid instead for power supply, Germany’s economy ministry has decided, together with the country’s coastal federal states.

“We want to make Germany’s port cities cleaner. These measures will make an important contribution to clean air and the reduction of CO2 and noise in the North Sea’s and Baltic Sea’s port cities,” said economy minister Peter Altmaier in a joint press release.

Daniel Günther, state premier of Schleswig-Holstein, said using electricity from an onshore grid connection instead of marine diesel is an important step to make Germany’s ports more climate-friendly and to make electricity a more economical alternative to fossil fuels for ships.

Port infrastructure in Hamburg, Kiel and Rostock will be upgraded to cater for cruise ships, ferries and container vessels, which will receive electricity from land connections with better financial conditions than in the past, for example by reducing the renewables surcharge or grid fees.

Source: Clean Energy Wire. Reproduced with permission.