Here's what we think about...

Background

Danish ports currently offer shore power, which 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, making it necessary to expand the current capacity.

Today, shore-side electricity is tax-exempt until June 18, 2021. Similarly, ship fuel is also tax-exempt.

In the new Green Deal from the EU, there are plans for ships to 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

• The financing of large shore power facilities is a major challenge for Danish ports. Large facilities that will 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 accommodate both 50 and 60 Hz ships. In addition, cruise facilities are only used during the summer months and the amount of ships can vary from year to year.
• 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 open to competition, which is why subsidies can be granted from the EU/state/municipality. A scheme that has been used to promote wind energy, for example.

Legislation

• Danish Ports does not consider that there are any regulatory obstacles to ports being able to provide electricity to ships in port, make related investments and generate profits from these activities. Neither in relation to the Ports Act nor the Ports Ordinance, 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.
• Danske Havne, on the other hand, does not want all ports to be required to install shore power for all ships calling at the port. Shore power can be very expensive to install - e.g. 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, a possible EU requirement for shore power should be combined with a requirement for zero emissions from 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 implies a level playing field for different types of fuels and thus modes of transportation, with the exception that there should be the possibility of tax reduction (exemption) for new sustainable forms of energy, so that the development and implementation of these fuels can be supported.

Specifics about electricity tax

• This is a special scheme that has been approved by the European Commission and is currently only valid until June 18, 2021.
• Danske Havne finds it crucial that this special scheme is extended beyond June 2021 (preferably it should be made permanent). A lack of continuation will destroy the business cases for many shore power facilities, as it will be cheaper for ships to produce their own power rather than connect to shore power.

We started the current stage of the revision of the Port Act when the expert committee presented the first proposal for the future Port Act in May 2018, and since then there have been political negotiations and a few postponements. There will be no clarification in the coming year, as the Port Act is not on the government's legislative program for the current session.

However, Danish Ports' position on the Port Act is clear:

We believe that the new Ports Act should help ensure a level playing field - especially in terms of borrowing opportunities - for ports across the country.

We believe that all ports, regardless of organizational form, should have the same access to state-guaranteed loans, and we are strongly committed to ensuring that Danish ports have framework conditions that allow them to compete with other ports, especially in the EU.

We also want a port law that looks at least ten years into the future, so that it can allow for new forms of cooperation between public and private actors, and so that each can contribute what they do best.

This is the only way we can succeed in a European context with relatively small ports.

Denmark is the only country in Europe besides Romania that considers pilotage a free market, and experimenting with it in Denmark has not had a positive effect on the ports in particular, to say the least.

Among other things, we have noted that prices in the period from 2014 to 2017 have increased by 18 percent on average and for some ports up to 40 percent in the same period. This means that the ports cannot accept further price increases, and that we therefore see an advantage in rolling back liberalization and reintroducing DanPilot's monopoly, as the market de facto looks today. And this despite the fact that we are generally strong advocates of liberalization for the sake of competition. Here we just have to say that pilotage must be a public authority task, and that liberalization has damaged the competitiveness of Danish ports.

Our proposal is therefore that 2020 will be a transition year, where we set the future framework and keep prices stable.

Danish ports are central to the green transition in Blue Denmark and the transportation 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. 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 by 2030.

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

Action area for an emission-free port:

Danish ports are working towards being emission-free by 2030. The 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 to the greatest extent possible. The aim is that at least 90 percent of all waste produced and received by the port is recycled by 2030.

Focus on green customer behavior:

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

Read more here.

As we look to the future, we have an interest in shifting more transportation from road to water. The Danish highways are getting more and more crowded, while there is plenty of room on the blue highways, i.e. the sea.

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

In a nutshell: Blue highways are part of the green future.

Background

On July 1, 2010, the revised Annex VI to MARPOL came into force, introducing stricter sulfur limits for marine fuels in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. To comply with the requirements, many ships choose to clean the exhaust gases with open scrubbers that discharge the cleaning water into the sea.

A number of studies do not contribute to further clarity on the extent to which discharged wastewater from open scrubbers pollutes ports, but nevertheless, a number of ports in Germany and elsewhere have banned the discharge of wastewater into harbors.

The EU has pointed out to the IMO that the current guidelines do not regulate discharges in specific areas, including ecologically sensitive areas such as harbors where water flow is not very high, so it is expected that there will be a tightening of the IMO regulations in 2021.

Danish Ports Position

The studies to date on contamination from open scrubbers cannot definitively refute that there may be microorganisms affected by contamination from open scrubbers.

Danish Ports welcomes the further investigation of pollution from open scrubbers and the development of common international rules and guidelines.

Until definitive studies are available that refute the possibility of pollution from open scrubbers in ports and until common rules and guidance on the use of open scrubbers in ports are issued internationally, ports should be able to decide to prohibit the use of open scrubbers in the port on a precautionary basis.

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

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 Agency. This means increased political focus on the entire maritime industry and provides more development opportunitieswhich is completely justified. It is in this context important to remember that ports are an essential part of the blue Denmark.

Ports help create many jobs in Denmark.

Ports employ almost 100,000 people. In 2018, there were i in total 60,271 people were directly employed in Blue Denmark. Including indirect employment (subcontracting 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 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 the import and export of goods to and from Denmark.

Hhey kept Denmark running 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 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. Ond Danish knowledge about offshore wind is already in demand around around the world.

There is great potential for future jobs in offshore wind.

Thehe Danish wind industry employs i today 33,000 jobs. Cautious fprojections show that, 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 investment in infrastructure in and around the ports. Investments need to be heavily in the Danish ports if we are to keep up with the development and jobs must not be lost abroad. The ports are ready for this - but public investments are also necessary.