DUAL Ports Pilots
The DOCKLAND pilot aims to develop a new green port strategy by the introduction of industrial co-siting. Focus is on co-siting within the sector of the fine chemicals, in correlation with the sector of the renewable energy and the sector of the circular economy. The practical base of the pilot is situated within the back-port of the port of Oostende.
The pilot will identify the conditions required to establish co-siting in close exchange with the Flemish government. A business case will be developed, related to the site in Oostende.
CABLE PROTECTION & FLOATING SOLAR
The 14th of January 2022 a new floating solar power plant (FSPP) was installed in the Oostende port, Belgium. 10 different companies from 7 different countries were involved in the project. The main goal was to reduce CO2 emissions during operations in a warehouse by producing a clean energy; the second goal was to save land space, as typically solar panels occupy a lot of land space which is then not available for port operations/activities. During 2 months the system produced 363kWh of clean energy. FSPP already survived the 2 storms Corrie and Eunice.
GREEN OFFICER - implementing sustainable management
The Green Officer pilot is implementing and coordinating the sustainability management of ports and initiating sustainability projects throughout the ports. The pilot will test innovative management solutions, that can help the ports promote greener services and operations.
The sustainability management and strategy will primarily focus on port activities. Furthermore a sustainability action plan will be developed with measures that contribute to the objectives of the strategy. Concrete projects will be initiated, e.g. the installation of LED lighting, solar systems, sustainable mobility, i.e. e-vehicles etc.
The progress made and the best practice examples are shared within Niedersachsen Ports and other ports within the DUAL Ports project and beyond.
HYDROGEN - use in ports and connected areas
Hydrogen is a unique zero carbon fuel that can be created using water and renewable electricity. Within DUAL Ports, ITM Power will be applying its expertise in the refueling of hydrogen cars and buses to the refueling of hydrogen vessels in Orkney and beyond. This will require ITM to design the world’s first hydrogen bunkering system, and identify how it will be implemented in the Orkney Islands.
The results will be the design for a ferry refueller.
The objective of the LED pilot is to optimise the use of port area lighting. For safety reasons a good lighting is critical in port areas. However, traditional lighting systems in ports typically have short lifespans and are responsible for high levels of carbon dioxide emissions.
The aim of the LED pilot will be to reduce carbon emissions, by installing, managing and monitoring a new intelligent and innovative lighting-system. This is based on energy saving LED lights. Different lighting scenarios are pre-programmed in the system, which makes it possible to provide precisely the legally prescribed light quantity for the respective operation (shunting, loading, no operation etc.). In addition, sensors are being used which allow a largely customized switch-on or switch-off of the lighting scenarios.
LNG - as a multifunctional part of REPs
The LNG pilot aims to reduce the emission of CO2 by building an LNG Terminal, that will provide an alternative to heavy fuel driven vessels, local production factories and potentially road transportation.
Existing and future Air Pollution Emission Control requirements have great impact on the production and operation of all kinds of premises and machinery, such as factories, vehicles, vessels etc. Many businesses are currently being strongly encouraged or even forced by local authorities and/or EU regulations to significantly lower their air emissions.
Numerous companies, ship- and truck owners etc. are evaluating and planning to change their production methods and propulsion systems to operate cleaner fuel, such as Liquefied Natural Gas. LNG is a very clean fuel which is expected to help reduce CO2 emissions by 40%.
LOW CARBON HARBOUR PLAN - making ports more carbon neutral
The objective of the LOW CARBON Harbour Plan pilot is making the three ports of Zwolle, Meppel and Kampen more carbon neutral.
The municipality of Meppel was partner in the Interreg project Lo-Pinod for the last 4 years. In this context, they worked on a Low Carbon harbour Plan. This is an inventory document of what actions in the port may be carried out to promote sustainability.
Actions in the areas of water, air and energy are investigated.The pilot aims to determine the effective measures to apply in port areas, concerning not only the port administration, but also plot owners and companies within the port area.
SAIL - creating a wind cargo platform
The aim of the SAIL cargo pilot is to put transport into the ethical equation with a zero-emissions low-impact cargo sailing ship that can access goods where they are produced.
The idea is to create sailcargo hubs in small ports and harbours giving local businesses direct access to ethically transported goods.
Advances in racing technology provide the tools to design a boat that is fast, light, and able to sail close to the wind, allowing for sailing trade routes to be opened, that have not existed in modern times.
The project will analyze the socio economic impact of the centralization of shipping and the importance of small ports to local economies.
Fair Winds Trust are in negotiations with Timbercoast, for the sustainable and decentralised transportation of cargo, directly to the consumer. You can learn more about Timbercoast and goods transported by sail cargo ships in this video.
SOIL TREATMENT- cleaning and renewed use of soil in port and area development
The main objective of the SOIL pilot is to expand and develop the port of Vordingborg by using recycled products, such as contaminated soil, concrete and excessive soil from building projects in the municipality.
The effects will be to reduce the CO2 footprint for the port of Vordingborg and the municipality of Vordingborg.
The construction and expansion of the Port of Vordingborg will use contaminated soil and excess soil and debree from nearby construction projects, such as road works and local investment projects. This will reduce costs and CO2 emissions from transportation and logistics.
The HEAT pilot seeks to OPTIMIZE THE PRODUCTION OF REST-ENERGY from wind, solar and sea-based power systems by integrating it to the local heating system, thus greatly reducing the carbon footprint by introducing an intelligent heat pump system combining smart heat exchangers technology. The knowledge and results from this part of the pilot will have big relevance for ports wanting to play an active role as providers of green energy solutions to local users. As a central part of the development of the energy cluster, an “intelligent” heat pump and exchanger will be introduced, modified, tested and investigated in the project. The introduction will be done in cooperation with the companies in the business cluster of Port of Hvide Sande. Furthermore, the introduction of an internal transport solution in the port area will be sought, based on hydrogen generated by rest renewable energy (wind/solar/sea-based power) systems. This will minimise the carbon footprint and discharge of Sox and NOx in the local area. Experiences and results from DUAL Ports existing pilot HYDROGEN and the new SEA POWER pilot will be used in the process.
Laminaria will demonstrate the POTENTIAL WAVE ENERGY TO SUPPLY ENERGY TO PORTS AND HYDROGEN PRODUCTION FACILITIES. Laminaria has developed a versatile and robust wave energy converter. Its technology shows excellent performance in a very broad range of wave climates and it excels in survivability. The technology has been demonstrated at scale in the past at sea. In 2014/2015 Laminaria tested a fully functional device 1 km out of the coast of Oostende. Over the last 3 years it has developed and built the first full scale device to be monitored in Orkney. In the pilot Laminaria will deploy this device at the Billia Croo site and feed the produced energy into the Orkney electrical grid. A detailed analysis of its power production and potential for other sites will be performed. This project will also demonstrate the sustainability of the device over a longer period of time and offer the possibility to improve operations and maintenance strategies. Combining wave energy and hydrogen production in ports is a win-win situation. H2 installations can be supplied with a steady supply of locally produced renewable energy and wave energy developers have the potential to supply not only the electrical grid with energy, but also ships with “wave energy”.
The shipping industry is dependent on fossil fuels. Most large vessels have their diesel generators running when moored in the port of Skagen. The exhaust gases from boats and vehicles contain large amounts of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and Sulphur oxides (SOx), which cause acid rain and smog. The port would therefore like to do REAL PROTOTYPING TEST OF A NEW TECHNOLOGY, i.e. A CO2 REDUCED AND NOX ABSORBING ASPHALT / SMOG EATING PAVEMENT IN THE HARBOR AREA of the port expansion stage 3 (2000m2) where the LNG terminal - whose business case is already within DUAL Ports- will possibly be installed. The air-purifying concrete/asphalt contains titanium dioxide, a photocatalytic material that removes the nitrogen oxides from the air and converts them with the aid of sunlight into harmless nitrate. The nitrate is then rinsed away by rain. 25% to 45% reduction in nitrogen oxides (NOx) over the special road is expected.
In some parts of the port of Emden, the sediment presents environmental pollutants. This prevents the use of water depth conservation measures and thus the long-term use of certain parts of the harbor. Therefore, an INNOVATIVE AND SUSTAINABLE CONCEPT FOR THE REMOVAL OF POLLUTANTS IN THE PORTS SEDIMENTS should be developed, in order to maintain port operations there in the long term. The project includes: Definition of the investigation framework; Examination of the actual load situation by taking and evaluating samples and creating a pollutant cadaster; Development of an innovative and sustainable concept for the careful and long-term removal of pollutants (incl. Presentation of sustainable sediment removal procedures; Identification of suitable ways of sediment disposal; Estimation of implementation costs; Elaboration of necessary licensing
requirements); Implementation of an innovative process for the long-term removal of environmental pollutants in the Emden harbor; Pilot Carbon Footprint Analysis and Cost Benefit Analysis. Based on this concept, a purification of the respective port areas is to be implemented.
The pilot will test an LED-based smart signalization system with blinking lights to warn about security issues. The system is expected to increase the efficiency and security of port operations, whilst reducing the carbon footprint of the port.
The pilot aims to test the adaptation of a sail vessel to innovatively transport cargo by combining wind propulsion (and, if feasible, solar/wave power) to hydrogen generation. The first step will be refurbishing a sailing vessel to carry cargo up to 52 tons. The next step will be to try and become a zero emissions sailing vessel, using hydrogen to fuel an electric motor, to go in and out of port.
WAVE/TIDAL INFRASTRUCTURE TEST
The Port of Oostende is currently utilized as an operations and maintenance (O&M) site for the offshore wind energy industry and as an innovation base for the Blue Energy industry. Wave and tidal energy are alternative energy sources that the harbour authority aims to integrate to develop greener utilities. The port of Oostende aims to test the suitability of special technical wave and tidal energy generation equipment to be able to supply clean power, whose surplus could possibly be later transformed into hydrogen and supply local transport and shipping needs.
FOR A FULL DESCRIPTION OF THE DUAL Ports LOW CARBON PILOTS SEE ALSO: www.dualports.eu