More shore power units coming to Antwerp and Gothenburg

Antwerp-Bruges plans shore power for cruise ships

Gothenburg to electrify container ship docks

IMAGE: Container ship docked at the Port of Antwerp, Belgium. Getty Images

The Port of Antwerp-Bruges plans to offer shore power for cruise ships by the second half of 2026.

The port authority has contracted engineering firm Cavotec to install the system and provide maintenance for five years after installation.

Separately, the Port of Gothenburg plans to install a transformer station to supply onshore power connection to container ships and roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) vessels.

The station will enable electricity supply at seven berths – five at container terminals and two at car carrier terminals, according to Magnus Nordfeldt, head of business area cargo at the Port of Gothenburg.

The facility is expected to be operational by 2027, Nordfeldt added.

EU to clamp down on port-side emissions

The Port of Antwerp-Bruges already provides onshore power supply for container ships, barges and tankers, according to its website. The Port of Gothenburg recently introduced shore power connections for tankers.

These are among the 130 shore power facilities currently operational across the EU, according to DNV’s database. Another 118 are planned to come online by 2030, as the bloc prepares for stricter regulations on port-side shipping emissions.

Under the EU’s Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR), major coastal and inland ports within the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) will be required to offer shore power for container and passenger ships by the end of 2029.

FuelEU Maritime also mandates all ships over 5,000 gross tonnage (GT) to connect to shore power when docked at TEN-T ports from 2030.

By Konica Bhatt

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