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Shipping activity is most heavily concentrated in ports, and so are its pollution and emissions. Over 6% of Europe’s maritime GHG emissions occur during port operations, alongside high levels of air pollutants such as sulphur oxides and fine particles. Cutting these emissions is critical to improving urban air quality and protecting public health.

To help address this, the EU has introduced a mandate requiring ports to provide onshore power supply (OPS) by 2030. This measure will allow ships to plug into the local electricity grid while docked, replacing the use of fossil-fuel auxiliary engines and reducing harmful emissions.

The study by DNV on behalf of T&E shows that only one in five required onshore power supply (OPS) connections is currently installed or contracted, with slow uptake across most ports. Of the 31 ports studied, only 4 have installed or contracted more than half of the connections required by 2030.

Because they spend significantly more time at berth, cruise ships produce more than six times more port-side emissions than container ships. In 2023, Carnival’s 3,500-passenger cruise ship, the Azura, emitted a whopping 22,800 tonnes of CO₂ in European ports. Plugging in at port would eliminate almost all of it and cut the ship’s total yearly emissions by a fifth.

Current EU laws fail to regulate the full scope of at-berth emissions. Key sources of pollution from smaller vessels and unregulated ship types remain unaddressed. Based on these findings, T&E recommends:

Advance EU shore power requirements for cruise terminals and cruise ships to 2028, reflecting the segment’s high proportion of at berth emissions and relatively advanced OPS readiness.
Integrate shoreside electricity into the Renewable Energy Directive (RED III) electricity crediting mechanism as part of national transposition, to enhance investment viability and accelerate port decarbonisation.
Earmark dedicated EU funding for OPS and port grid expansion under the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), including continued support through the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Facility (AFIF).
Expand shore power requirements to a broader range of ships at berth, including currently excluded ship types and smaller vessels, as part of future revisions to Alternative Fuels Infrastructure and FuelEU Maritime regulations.