In European ports, installation is proceeding slowly on the quays of cold ironing plants (onshore power supply - OPS) to allow ships at berth to turn off their engines and to connect to the shore electricity network with the aim of reduce its polluting emissions. This is highlighted by a study created by the Norwegian consulting company, DNV certification and classification on behalf of the association environmentalist Transport & Environment (T&E) who notes that in European ports only a fifth of the of the cold ironing systems necessary so that, as established by the European Union with the AFIR and FuelEU regulations maritime ports, must supply electricity from the at least 90% of ship calls in ports by 2030. In particular, of the 31 ports examined by the study, only more than half of them have been installed or ordered in four of the cold ironing systems that these ports will have to equip themselves with by 2030.

The document recalls that the transport activity maritime emissions, as well as its emissions, is concentrated in in ports where more than 6% of greenhouse gas emissions take place. greenhouse gases produced by shipping in Europe. In addition, the study notes that if the container ship segment is the one that requires the largest share of new installations of OPS systems, however, should be accelerated, in particular, the installation of systems for the electrification of the quays in where cruise ships dock as this offers the Maximum potential for reducing emissions and pollution since cruise ships spend much more time mooring of the other naval units, producing over six times more emissions in ports than in container ships. Therefore, the installation of OPS systems for cruise ships would make it possible to almost completely eliminate these emissions reducing total annual emissions from ships by a fifth in ports.

He also emphasized that the main source of pollution comes from smaller ships that are not regulated European standards on ship emissions, with current regulations EU which therefore do not allow the accounting of more than half emissions from ships at berth in ports, Transport & Environment has made a number of recommendations, in order to starting from the solicitation to bring forward the requirements to 2028 for the supply of shore-side electricity to ships, Cruise due to the high proportion of emissions produced by these units.

T&E also calls for cold ironing systems to be included in the credit mechanism provided for by Directive 2413 of the 2023 Decree on promotion of energy from renewable sources in order to increase the the feasibility of investments and accelerate the decarbonisation of ports and also urges Member States to introduce complementary incentives such as tax exemptions on shore-side electricity supplied to ships or as a simplification of authorisation procedures for the installation of OPS and for the upgrading of the electricity grid.

In addition, the association hopes that the EU will allocate funding for OPS installations under the next framework multiannual financial framework of the Union for 2028-2034, including a continuous support ensured through the Alternative Fuels calls Infrastructure Facility (AFIF), and that priority is given to access to finance to those nations that commit to implement cold ironing systems before 2030.

Finally, T&E urges, in the context of future reviews of the AFIR and FuelEU Maritime regulations, to extend the requirements of the related to shore power supply to ships at a range of of naval units moored in ports, in smaller boats.

One of the European ports that is gearing up to comply with EU regulations is the Sicilian port of Pozzallo where, thanks to a call for tenders from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Trasporti won in September last year by the Maritime Authority, Port System of the Eastern Sicilian Sea related to the project "cold ironing" and the funds made available by the PNRR for a total amount of about 15 million euros, it will take The installation of the system that will allow ships to to turn off the auxiliary motors and connect to the power supply at to obtain the necessary energy, guaranteeing the objective zero emissions. Following the drafting of the Project of Technical-Economic Feasibility and Executive Feasibility, prepared by the Port Authority with the help of external professionals, In fact, today the tender has been published that by next will award the contract on September 1.

The intervention in Pozzallo includes both strengthening and standardization of the current structure of the media and low voltage of the whole port, not only for cold system ironing, but also to equip the airport with electrical infrastructure adequate to the growing needs of growth, both construction of two sockets of 6.5 MW each installed one at the shore quay and one at the commercial quay. The sockets will guarantee the connection to the cold ironing system to the ro-ro and ro-pax as well as container ships.