Port of Helsinki eyes carbon neutrality

Photo: Port of Helsinki

The Port of Helsinki has committed to the Carbon Neutral Helsinki 2035 programme and created its own associated programme: Carbon Neutral Port 2035, aimed at becoming carbon neutral by 2030 and reducing emissions in the entire harbour area by 32% compared to 2015 levels.

Majority of the programme's measures will be implemented during the first five years, in the period between 2020–2024. Solutions and technologies emerging during this time will be taken into account and necessary updates to the strategy will be made accordingly.

In addition to its own targets, the Port of Helsinki wants to influence other operators' emissions with the aid of, for example, recommendations and environmental financial incentives. Stakeholders' expectations and international regulations will encourage other operators to reduce their own emissions, in turn supporting the initiative.

Measures to be employed to achieve the goals include a 25% reduction in vessels emissions through implementation of shore power technology at nine of the Port's berths, providing the option of alternative fuels for calling vessels and development of an environmental programme targeted at ships. Emissions from heavy goods vehicles will also be reduced by minimizing the use of transport vehicles and introducing incentives to use low-emission vehicles, which should result in a drop of up to 60%.

Port of Helsinki's own carbon neutrality will be achieved by minimizing energy consumption thanks to the modernization of heating installations, implementation of LED lighting and increased use of solar panels for energy generation. Subcontractor's carbon footprints will be targeted as well via procurement.

The port is prepared to invest €2m annually for projects related to emission reduction.

"Reducing emissions has become our number-one priority. The goal is for the Port of Helsinki's own operations to be carbon neutral by 2035 and to reduce emissions in the harbour area by more than 30 per cent," said Ville Haapasaari, CEO, Port of Helsinki, before going into details, "More extensive use of LNG, biodiesel and renewable energy sources would mean considerable investments. It would be a long-term project. Investments in this industry are considerable, and made with a view to ten years in the future. Old technologies are gradually being replaced by new ones. We're conducting energy analyses at various terminals, and investing in solar panels and geothermal pumps for buildings. Gate operations are being automated at both passenger and cargo ports. We have a long list of large and small items that are all targeted at improving efficiency and reducing emissions."

Haapasaari also commented on the specifics of issues related to congestion, "Congestion around the West Harbour is a last mile problem for which solutions are being sought. In early 2020, heavy goods traffic will be directed to and from the port along the same route, down Tyynenmerenkatu. This will, in practice, remove all trucks from Jätkäsaari's residential areas. Bridge and ramp solutions to facilitate traffic flow are also being planned."

At the same time, he considers the idea of transferring passenger traffic out of the city centre to be neither sensible nor feasible, "The Port of Helsinki must serve both cargo and passenger traffic, and passenger traffic is extremely important to businesses in the city centre. It now seems clear that no decision will be made on the underground feeder route any time in the coming years, and we just have to live with that. And even that would not be a quick solution. We're talking about a process that would take 15–20 years from planning decision to completion. The West Harbour has a fine new passenger terminal and is well equipped to serve vehicle-passenger ferries, which is a clear and functional concept in the Baltic Sea. Ships have been built on the basis of this concept – that heavy goods traffic and passenger traffic will live together and develop hand-in-hand. In other words, we need to find solutions to road traffic bottlenecks in the next few years."