What we think about...

Background information

Danish ports currently offer shore power that primarily covers the energy needs of smaller ships, but with the ongoing green transition, the need for shore power (and energy supply) in ports will increase, which is why expansion of the current capacity will be necessary.

Today, shore power is tax-exempt until June 2027, and ship fuel is also tax-exempt.

In the EU Green Deal from 2020, it is planned that ships will be supplied with shore power when docked, which is also part of the climate partnerships.

Therefore, the following position on the role and challenges of ports in this development is proposed:

Financing

• Financing large shore power installations is a major challenge for Danish ports. Large facilities to be used for cruise ships and/or other larger ships require large investments. This can be in terms of infrastructure, new power supply to the port and converters so that the port can receive ships at both 50 and 60 Hz. In addition, cruise ship facilities are only used during the summer months and the number of ships can vary from year to year.
• In order to promote the development of shore power, funding from the EU/state/municipalities is therefore necessary - a development that is also seen in our neighboring countries.
• The area is not economically interesting for private players, and thus not exposed to competition, which is why EU/state/municipal support can be granted. A scheme that has been used to promote wind energy, for example.

Legislation

• Danish Ports does not consider that there are any legal obstacles to ports being able to supply electricity to ships in port, make related investments and generate profits from these activities. Neither in relation to the Port Act nor the Port Regulation, which makes it clear that TEN-T ports can offer bunkering (i.e. shore power) to ships.
• Danish Ports supports the introduction of EU rules on mandatory connection to shore power in ports that have invested in shore power and where it is technically/practically possible.
• However, Danish Ports do not want all ports to be required to establish shore power for all ships calling at the port. Shore power can be very expensive to establish - for example for small ports with few ship calls. Similarly, in ports that receive many cruise ships, it can also be almost impossible to provide enough power for them in all cases. Therefore, any EU requirement for shore power should be combined with a zero-emission requirement for ships in port, so that an alternative to shore power could be that the ship runs on its own batteries while in port.
• Danish Ports would also like to support an energy tax restructuring that entails equal conditions for different types of fuels and thus modes of transport, with the exception that there should be the possibility of tax reductions (exemptions) for new sustainable forms of energy to support the development and implementation of these fuels.

Special about electricity tax

• This is a special scheme approved by the European Commission and is currently only valid until June 2027.
• Danish Ports finds it crucial that this special scheme is extended beyond June 2027 (preferably made permanent). A non-extension will destroy the business case for many shore power plants, as it will be cheaper for ships to produce their own power rather than connect to shore power.

The port sector is developing rapidly and it is crucial that legislation supports a modern and competitive port infrastructure. Port legislation is now 25 years old and in many cases outdated. This creates specific challenges for Danish ports, which can, for example, be rejected for solar cell projects because the law has not been updated to meet today's needs. Therefore, it is essential to modernize the Ports Act so that it better reflects today's reality.

Already in 2017, an initiative was taken to evaluate the law when the then Minister of Transport set up an expert committee with participation from, among others, Danish Ports. In May 2018, the committee presented their first proposal for the future Ports Act, and since then there have been political negotiations and repeated postponements. Unfortunately, there is still no clarification, and the Ports Act is not on the government's legislative program for the current session.

However, Danish Ports still maintains a clear position on a future port act:

• Level playing field: Ensure fair competition conditions for all ports, especially when it comes to financing options and state-guaranteed loans.
• Flexible framework conditions: Ports should have flexible framework conditions that support their development and enable them to attract investment and do business in a modern market.
• Sustainable development: The Ports Act should make it easier for ports to contribute to the green transition - not work against it. It is unsustainable that old rules prevent the development of e.g. solar projects.

A future port law needs to have a long-term perspective that extends at least ten years into the future. It should allow for new forms of cooperation between public and private actors, allowing each party to contribute their expertise and strengths.

Only by thinking ahead and creating stable framework conditions can Danish ports continue to be a strong driving force for growth and development - both in Denmark and in an international context.

Danish ports are central to the green transition in Blue Denmark and the transport sector as a whole.

Ports are the hub where sea, road and rail meet. We need to use less energy for transportation in general and use new fuels. The sea must therefore replace road transportation when it is most climate-friendly. Ports are hubs for Denmark's wind turbine adventure and suppliers of infrastructure for ships. Ports are also increasingly becoming modern industrial clusters that bring together the business areas in which Denmark is a leader and which are most important in the green transition. Commercial ports therefore also play an important role in the green transition that will be implemented in Denmark towards 2030.

The Danish ports have chosen to be at the forefront and are the first in Europe to commit as an industry to working with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and specific objectives for the green transition in ports.

Action area for an emission-free port:

Danish ports are working towards being emission-free by 2030. Ports must ensure that the port's machinery does not use fossil fuels, that the port's own energy consumption is based on renewable energy and that the port becomes CO2 neutral.

Focus area for the circular economy:

Ports must ensure that the port's own waste is recycled and support the recycling of waste received from ships as much as possible. The aim is that at least 90 percent of all waste produced and received by the port will be recycled by 2030.

Focus area for green behavior among customers:

In dialogue with their customers, the ports will ensure that they can create good framework conditions that support customers' green behavior. Among other things, the ports must establish relevant energy infrastructure at and adjacent to the ports, they must differentiate the charges for ship calls in relation to how green the ships are and provide the opportunity for green connection for the ships received at the jetty.

Read more here.

When we look into the future, we have an interest in moving more transportation from road to water. Danish highways are becoming more and more congested, while there is plenty of space on the blue highways, i.e. the waterways.

Blue highways are more environmentally friendly than asphalt highways, and the more we move from road to sea, the more we ease the pressure on the roads. This is better for both the environment and congestion.

It's important for both growth and the environment that in the future we have the opportunity to attract more freight transport to Danish ports rather than to other European ports, because Denmark is among the best at handling it in an environmentally sound way - and not least because it also creates a lot of jobs.

In short: Blue highways are part of the green future.

Background information

Scrubbers are exhaust gas cleaning systems used in the shipping industry to reduce sulfur emissions from fuels. They became particularly widespread after stricter sulphur regulations were introduced in the North Sea and Baltic Sea in 2015 and even more so after the UN Maritime Organization, IMO, implemented global sulphur regulations that came into force in 2020.

On April 11, 2024, a broad majority in the Danish Parliament reached a political agreement to ban the discharge of wastewater from scrubbers. The decision was made based on recent studies showing that scrubber water contains large amounts of heavy metals and tars that can pollute the marine environment.

The ban covers the Danish territorial waters and extends approximately 22 km from the coast. It will come into force on July 1, 2025 for ships with open-loop scrubbers, where the wash water is discharged directly into the sea. For ships with closed-loop scrubbers that collect the wastewater on board, the ban will apply from July 1, 2029.

Danish Ports' position

Danish Ports supports the Danish ban on open-loop scrubbers as new analysis has shown significant harmful effects on the marine environment, especially in the Baltic Sea. Danish Ports calls for the ban to be extended to the entire Baltic Sea area and integrated into the upcoming EU legislation on ship pollution. So far, Sweden has chosen to follow Denmark's example with a total ban and it is expected that more countries will introduce similar restrictions to protect the marine environment.

Ports are an essential part of Blue Denmark and are growth centers for Danish business.

Denmark is one of the world's largest shipping nations. Blue Denmark is designated as one of 12 Danish so-called positions of strength by the Danish Business Promotion Board. This means increased political focus on the entire maritime industry, and it provides more development opportunitieswhich is completely justified. It is in this context important to remember that ports are an essential part of Blue Denmark..

Ports help create many jobs in Denmark.

Ports employ almost 100,000 people. In 2018, there were i a total of 60,271 people were directly employed in Blue Denmark. If you also include the indirect employees (subcontractors to Blue Denmark) of 35,893 people, this gives a total of 96,164 people employed in Blue Denmark. 1 An investment in the ports is therefore also an investment in Danish jobs.

Ports contribute to economic growth in Denmark.

Production in the Blue Denmark had a total value of just over DKK 350 billion in 2018. This corresponds to 8.9 percent of Denmark's total production. Exports in the Blue Denmark amounted to DKK 258 billion in 2018. This corresponds to 25.7 percent of total Danish exports of goods and services, 2

Ports are indispensable for importing and exporting goods to and from Denmark.

Havens kept Denmark going during Covid-19 crisis and will also help bring Denmark out of the crisis. Sf you look at the share of total imports in Denmark, imports via sea - and thus via the Danish ports - 76.7 percent.

Danish ports are efficient.

Despite the fact that Danish ports are small in a European and international context, they were Danish Ports in both 2018 and 2019 no. 6 on the World Economic Forum's list of the most efficient ports in the world3

Denmark has a unique opportunity for an export adventure in offshore wind.

Between 20 and 30 Danish ports are involved in wind. Danish hports have been responsible for shipping more than 80 percent of Europe's Europe's existing offshore wind capacity. The EU Commission has previously estimated that the capacity of offshore wind at least 20-fold if the goal of a climate-neutral Europe is to be achieved by 2050. Oanish knowledge about offshore wind is already in demand around around the world.

There is great potential for future jobs in offshore wind.

Then Danish wind industry employs i today 33,000 jobs. Cautious fprojections show, that 20,000 new Danish jobs in 2030 will be based on windenergy. Furthermore, the gradual replacement of end-of-life wind turbines creates more activity in Danish ports in the form of sustainable decommissioning tasks.

Investments in infrastructure in and around ports are necessary to be ready for the offshore wind industry of the future.

The giant wind turbines we will see at sea in the coming years will be more than 320 meters tall and transporting them over the road network will create additional congestion. The offshore wind turbines can be produced at the the port and then shipped out and installed in the offshore wind farms - but this requires investments in infrastructure in and around the ports. Investments must be made heavily in Danish ports if we are to keep up with development and jobs are not to be lost abroad. The ports are ready for this - but public investments are also necessary.