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Forth Ports lays out net zero plans

[ May 16, 2023   //   ]

Forth Ports says it will achieve a Net Zero carbon operation by 2042.  The company, which is Scotland’s biggest port operator and third largest in the UK, has also unveiled an interim target to achieve carbon neutral emissions (Scope 1 and 2) by 2032. 

To achieve this across the group’s eight ports, Forth Ports is overhauling and electrifying equipment and machinery, switching to low carbon fuels, increasing on-site renewable energy generation and promoting low carbon delivery alternatives such as rail and barge. This is complemented by investment in new infrastructure to support the offshore wind revolution taking place in the North Sea.

Forth Ports is part of the Thames Freeport and Forth Green Freeport partnerships which are seeking to accelerate the drive to Net Zero across the country. All eight ports use environmentally sustainable sources of electricity, including on-site wind turbines at Tilbury.

Forth Ports strategy for mobile equipment and its marine fleet is to blend and utilise alternative fuels.  Initially this involves the widespread use of sustainably sourced hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO) and, as technology develops, other methods of low emission propulsion. 

Green energy ports – the group is focused on delivering low carbon logistics and large-scale port infrastructure to support green energy generation.  The group has overhauled its rail offering by investing heavily in four of its rail terminals, at Tilbury, Tilbury2 and Grangemouth, alongside progressing the reinstatement of a rail connection to Rosyth as part of the Forth Green Freeport initiative. 

The group has also invested significantly in port infrastructure to support the roll-out of ScotWind at Dundee and Leith.  In addition, the group has recently installed shore-side power at Leith and its new development, Tilbury2, is shore-side power enabled to help drive down in-port emissions from visiting vessels.

Forth Ports is working with its supply chain to drive down its Scope 3 emissions, which mainly stem from the use of steel and aggregate when constructing infrastructure or purchasing mobile port equipment and marine vessels, and is engaging with suppliers to find fit-for-purpose, low carbon emission alternatives.

Dundee’s recently built DunEco Quay reneweables site used steel pipes fabricated from reused or recycled materials. The port also created a paved storage area by reusing building and road materials from the onsite works, which avoided adding to landfill and reduced – or eliminated – road delivery miles, saving thousands of tonnes of carbon in the delivery of this project.

Group chief executive Charles Hammond OBE said: “I am pleased to lay out our plans for our operations to be carbon neutral by 2032 and to achieve Net Zero by 2042.  We have already achieved a great deal in reducing our day-to-day emissions and enabling our customers to do the same.  Our roadmap will aid the UK’s transition to a decarbonised economy.

“Large-scale market-ready port infrastructure is essential for the deployment of offshore wind.  We have made significant progress in supporting the offshore wind sector through our initial £150 million investment programme – a key plank to enable the transition to Net Zero – with plans to invest significantly more as this market develops, including the infrastructure required for floating offshore wind as installations go into ever deeper seas.”

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