Merseyside shipbuilder and repairer Cammell Laird starts work on £7m project that will deliver zero-carbon power to ships docked at the yard. Tony McDonough reports

Birkenhead shipyard Cammell Laird has started work on a £7m ‘zero carbon’ ship-to-shore power project.

In April, LBN revealed Cammell Laird, part of the APCL Group, had secured £3.5m from the UK Department for Transport’s Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition Round 4 towards the cost of its green shore power project.

Ship-to-shore power can both reduce carbon emissions and cut down on local pollution. A significant volume of the fuel burned by a ship is used to propel the vessel but it still needs power when it is in port.

Many vessels still run on so-called ‘bunker fuel’, a heavy fuel oil that produces high volumes of nitric and nitrogen oxides, known to contribute to respiratory diseases.

And this is where ship-to-shore power, or ‘cold ironing’, can mitigate both CO2 emissions and pollution. The idea is simple – while the ship is moored at the terminal it ‘plugs in’ to a shoreside power source and can switch off its engines.

Cammell Laird’s ‘net zero’ power will be supplied by energy supplier Scottish Power from renewable sources such as wind. This will be used to power vessels undergoing repair, refit or build on fossil fuel-based power supplies at the shipyard.

Appointed contractor Integrum will now carry out the HV upgrade to the facility which will enable the delivery of clean power to vessels alongside and in dry dock at the site on the banks of the Mersey. 

This new phase of work marks the beginning of a six-month civils project comprising two main work packages. The first will include an upgrade to the existing Cammell Laird site HV distribution substations.

Package two involves the installation of new HV connection points across the facility for the shore power units. Mike Hill, managing director at Cammell Laird, said: “This is a key milestone in the project.

“Sustainable shore power plays a vital role in global and national efforts to reduce the impact of the maritime industry on the environment. Our strategy at Cammell Laird is to achieve net zero across our operations by 2030.”

Cammell Laird provides ship repair, conversion and in-service support to commercial and defence vessels. It also is a “centre of excellence” for ferries, mobilisation and demobilisation works, jack-ups, pontoons and tankers and MoD defence vessels.

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David McGinley, chief executive of APCL Group, added: “Cammel Laird and the wider APCL Group sustains 100%of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary and also provides vital ship repair services to the Royal Navy and the International Seaborne community. 

“This shore power project will further the Ministry of Defence’s and the wider maritime industry’s commitment to reducing the impact of vessels on the environment.”