This paper investigates the significance of ports in the energy transition (ET) and decarbonisation. Ports, being vital in energy value chains, play a critical role in curbing energy use and emissions. The paper draws from the MAGPIE project, funded by the Horizon 2020 programme, which showcases energy and digital solutions in a real-world setting. The paper focuses on sustainable initiatives in 12 European sea- and inland- ports, analysed through interviews and secondary data. Findings reveal that while many ports discuss ET, few have transformed their plans into significant actions due to technological, regulatory, and financial challenges. Three core themes emerge from the review: ET infrastructure, seagoing ships and hinterland transport, and governance. Ports need more actionable strategies for ET, with port authorities spearheading the adoption of sustainable technologies through collaboration.
This report includes a broad description of the findings from work package 2 in the EFFORT project and is made as the fulfillment of delivery L2.1 in the project. First an overall description of the Port of Hirtshals together with its infrastructure is given in chapter 1 together with some background aspect for the development of the Port of Hirtshals. In this chapter also the 5 companies who had shown their interest in participation in the project are described in more detail. Based on this as outcome of task 2.1 and described in chapter 2 an overall system architecture is set up for the existing industries at the Port of Hirtshals and next for the future expansion of the port. Based on the overall system architecture an adaptation of the system to the EU SGAM model is performed and explained. Then the overall set up of the data hub is briefly introduced, to see how it is related to the overall energy system set up. The final part documented for task 2.1 is two examples of sequence diagrams for first the processes in Forskerparken and next one which is valid for both the Fish Terminal, Lineage as well as Danish Salmon, since many of their electrical consuming processes here in an overall manner look the same.
In chapter 3 the base scenarios for the existing industries at Port of Hirtshals are set up. This is done based on information and wishes from the industries and the local Distribution System Operator (DSO), which is gained partly by bilateral discussions as well as on a workshop held with all the involved industries present at the same time. The scenarios will be described according to the IEC standard 62559-2, to ensure better utilization of the ideas in other projects, by applying a standard template known in this area.
Finally, in chapter 4 scenarios for the future expected extension of industries and activities at the Port of Hirtshals are set up. This is based on inputs from GPN, HH, NEN as well as Hjørring Municipality, Hirtshals Fjernvarme and from inputs from workshops with the existing industries at the port. Also here the IEC 62559-2 standard will be applied when describing the use cases.
The scenarios set up will later be used for the further development of the data hub, which is to be set up in the project, as well as for the model set up and control perspectives in the later WPs.
Modern ports face not only a paradox of combining efficiency and effectiveness, but also a paradox of balancing activities characterized by different time horizons and stakeholder expectations. The structural changes underlying these paradoxes are the co-existence of downward pressures on market premiums and the increasing demands on the relational capabilities of port authorities. The increasing demand on relational capabilities is caused by the fact that modern ports are hubs for industrial activities that span the organizational boundaries of firms, integrating port systems and the hinterland. Thus, port authorities must simultaneously focus on cost efficiency and systemic coordination within complex port systems. As indicated by recent research on port governance and competitiveness, this implies that port authorities must assume and combine different organizational roles. The present paper takes this discussion further by classifying the organizational roles of port authorities in terms of role complexity, relational capital, and systemic functions within the port system. Based on a case study, the paper shows that the use of systemic functions implies the development of new business models, and that the adoption of the roles by port authorities depends on how emerging relational capabilities are embedded in structures of value co-creation and value co-capture.
The shipping industry's greenhouse gas emission reduction has received significant focus over the past years. One of the research areas is that of stowage planning for RORO vessels. Efficient stowage plans are necessary to reduce the turnaround time for vessels in a port. Reducing turnaround time results in prolonged sailing time, allowing vessels to reduce fuel consumption through slow steaming. When RORO vessels have calls at several ports, they handle cargo as an approximate FILO queue. Therefore, cargo can potentially become blocked when stowing cargo for later ports, behind cargo with an earlier discharge port. Planning the cargo assignment onboard the vessels also requires considering the arrival time of cargo at the port. Recent research assumes that all freight is available for stowage when the RORO vessels arrive at the port. However, this is not always the case. The unique elements of scheduling and generation of loading/discharge paths are therefore of academic interest. We propose a novel mathematical model with a weighted objective function that minimizes the relationship between the fuel consumption cost and the revenue gained from shipping cargo. The model schedules the cargo loading sequence to reduce time spent handling and re-handling cargo at each port. The problem is studied for a single deck layout for a vessel calling multiple ports. Results of the mathematical model and accompanying metaheuristic will be presented.
This study analyses the relation between management practices and the performance of Brazilian port authorities. In order to do so, a survey-based evaluation tool of the quality of management practices was developed. In addition, a set of operational and financial performance indicators of such port authorities and their ports was calculated. The differences in operational and financial performance between port authorities with a high and a low quality of management practices were analysed by Student t-tests and the relation between management practices and port performance was accessed through linear regression analysis. The results indicated that the better managerial practices have a positive impact on port authorities' financial performance but have no significant impact on ports' operational performance. The study also found that port authorities controlled by States and Municipalities have better financial and operational results and use more management practices than those managed by the Brazilian Federal Government.
In this paper speed optimization of an existing liner shipping network is solved by adjusting the port berth times. The objective is to minimize fuel consumption while retaining the customer transit times including the transhipment times. To avoid too many changes to the time table, changes of port berth times are only accepted if they lead to savings above a threshold value. Since the fuel consumption of a vessel is a non-linear convex function of the speed, it is approximated by a piecewise linear function. The developed model is solved using exact methods in less than two minutes for large instances. Computational experiments on real-size liner shipping networks are presented showing that fuels savings in the magnitude 2–10% can be obtained. The work has been carried out in collaboration with Maersk Line and the tests instances are confirmed to be representative of real-life networks.
We consider a variant of the berth allocation problem-i.e., the multi-port berth allocation problem-aimed at assigning berthing times and positions to vessels in container terminals. This variant involves optimizing vessel travel speeds between multiple ports, thereby exploiting the potentials of a collaboration between carriers (shipping lines) and terminal operators. Using a graph representation of the problem, we reformulate an existing mixed-integer problem into a generalized set partitioning problem, in which each variable refers to a sequence of feasible berths in the ports that the vessel visits. By integrating column generation and cut separation in a branch-and-cut-and-price procedure, our proposed method is able to outperform commercial solvers in a set of benchmark instances and adapt better to larger instances. In addition, we apply cooperative game theory methods to efficiently distribute the savings resulting from a potential collaboration and show that both carriers and terminal operators would benefit from collaborating.
There is a gradual but clear transition towards a circular economy (CE) that will potentially have significant impacts on ports, both in their function as transport nodes and as locations for logistics and manufacturing activities. A rough appraisal of new investments in circular manufacturing activities in ports in Europe drawn from organizational reports and official webpages illustrates the (slow) development of circular activities in ports. This paper is to our knowledge the first paper which deals with the implications of CE for the business model of the port development company. We assess if and how the circularity transition affects the role and business model of port authorities as developers of port clusters. We outline a framework for analyzing the consequences of CE on the business model of the port authority. We then apply this framework to get a detailed understanding of the emerging CE ecosystem in the Port of Amsterdam, which is clearly a frontrunner in the transition, and the role of the government-owned Port of Amsterdam port development company (PoA) in developing this ecosystem. In Amsterdam, a CE 'business ecosystem' has emerged and continues to evolve with three types of synergies between the companies in this ecosystem: logistics infrastructure and services synergies, input-output synergies and industrial ecology synergies. We find that the spatial scale of the CE value chains in the port varies between segments and that they are generally less international than 'linear' value chains. The development of CE activities occupies a central place in PoA's strategy, and PoA assumes new and active roles in advancing the circular business ecosystem, most notably through developing industrial ecology synergies and nurturing and attracting new, innovative CE companies. Finally, the circularity transition leads to changes in PoA's business model, with an increasing focus on new services that create synergies, and a decreasing importance of the share of port dues in the total revenue mix.