Tianjin Port announced the construction of the world's first "smart zero-carbon" terminal; Huangshi Xingang announced that the integrated smart zero-carbon power plant (Phase I) was successfully connected to the grid for power generation, and the port was self-sufficient in electricity consumption, becoming the first zero-carbon port on the Yangtze River. Huanghua Port launched the country's first zero-carbon pilot coal terminal; The "zero-carbon terminal" photovoltaic project of Zhangzhou Port was put into operation; Weifang Port has obtained the "Carbon Neutrality Evaluation Certificate" from China Classification Society, becoming the first "zero-carbon port" in China......
Recently, "zero-carbon ports" have become a buzzword in the transportation industry. However, a number of experts recently said that in recent years, with the growth of port throughput, energy consumption is also rising, and some port carbon reduction measures are restricted by technology, equipment, policies, etc., there are still many obstacles and challenges in the construction of "zero-carbon ports".
Multiple measures to create a "zero-carbon port"
On October 18, according to the official website of the Ministry of Transport, Weifang Port of Shandong Port Bohai Bay Port Group obtained the "Carbon Neutrality Evaluation Certificate" issued by China Classification Society Quality Certification Co., Ltd. (CCSC) on the 15th, marking the completion of the country's first "zero-carbon port" in Weifang Port.
In March this year, Weifang Port released a plan for the creation of a "zero-carbon port". In accordance with the "PAS2060: 2014 Carbon Neutrality Verification Specification", the CCSC evaluated the quantification and offsetting process of greenhouse gas emissions generated by the production and operation of Weifang Port from June 10 to September 10 this year, and the evaluation results showed that carbon neutrality was achieved.
For a long time, the port has been a "big user of energy". According to Weifang Port, its "zero-carbon port" goal is achieved through a number of measures: a clean energy structure. Four 6.7 MW wind turbines were successfully connected to the grid on September 30, with an annual usable power generation capacity of more than 70 million kWh and a reduction of 57,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions; a wind-solar-hydrogen multi-energy complementary system was built, with a 3.3 peak megawatt photovoltaic power station with an annual power generation capacity of 3,613,200 kWh, and a hydrogen refueling station with a daily storage capacity of 300 kg of compressed hydrogen; 46 charging piles were built to meet the charging needs of electric vehicles and machinery for collection and distribution in the port, and to promote the substitution of electric energy for port machinery.
Since 2019, Guoneng Huanghua Port has ranked first in the country's coal throughput for five consecutive years. The main loading and unloading equipment of the port adopts variable frequency drive control technology, and for the first time, the large-scale and large-capacity installed capacity inverter technology has been successfully applied to the conveying system of the third and fourth phases of coal belt conveyors. Since 2016, a total of 136 million yuan has been invested to take the lead in building a high- and low-voltage shore power system covering 21 berths in the country, with a shore power coverage rate of 100% and an annual shore power consumption of more than 4 million kWh.
Many places have adopted a number of measures to create "zero-carbon ports". Photography / Zhang Ke
The first financial reporter recently saw in an interview at the intelligent container terminal in Section C of Tianjin Port Beijiang Port that three 200,000-ton container berths were spread out on the shoreline of the wharf with a total length of 1,100 meters. Two 4.5MW distributed wind turbines with a height of more than 110 meters are erected on the green belt on the north side of the port area, close to the ro-ro terminal wall, and the blades rotate slowly.
At the wharf operation site, 12 automated quay cranes have no driver's cabs, and the lock station uses 6-axis robots and 19 kinds of fixtures to realize the operation of 47 types of container connection locks, and the positioning is accurate in 4 seconds; Nearly 100 new-generation intelligent transportation robots (ART) with a maximum speed of 35 kilometers per hour carry containers on the roads of the yard......
The carbon emissions of the port industry mainly come from the fuel and electricity consumed by loading and unloading production, auxiliary production and ancillary production. "The terminal generates electricity through multiple wind turbines and a photovoltaic power station with the largest single installed capacity of a port in the country, and has zero carbon emissions throughout the whole process. The port area has been awarded the industry's first carbon neutrality certificate. Fan Jingmin, deputy general manager of the safety and environmental protection department of Tianjin Port Group, said that at present, the port area has achieved full coverage of shore power in all container and dry bulk berths, 100% of its own ships use shore power, and 100% of the shore power of ships coming to the port should be connected.
In Huangshi Xingang, the roof of the warehouse in the modern logistics park is covered with large photovoltaic panels. On both sides of the road in the port area, wind, solar and photovoltaic integrated street lamps are equipped with photovoltaic panels and fan blades to continuously produce electricity. Ships, heavy trucks, gantry cranes and other equipment in the port are charged and batteries are replaced by shore power to achieve zero fuel consumption.
Huangshi New Port is a rare deep-water port in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, the largest single port in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and one of the 28 major inland ports in the country and a national first-class open port. The integrated smart zero-carbon power plant project has reduced the port's carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions by more than 90%.
There is still a long way to go in the zero-carbon transformation of ports
The scale of mainland ports ranks first in the world, and among the top 10 ports in the world in terms of cargo throughput and container throughput in 2023, mainland ports account for 8 seats. According to data, the carbon emissions of the mainland's transportation sector account for about 10% of the total carbon emissions of the whole society, and although the proportion of carbon emissions from ports and terminals is not large, it has a significant impact on the air quality of port cities and regions. There is still a long way to go to build a green port and achieve a low-carbon and zero-carbon transformation.
At the "2024 Towards Zero Emission Transportation Forum" held on the 18th, Wang Nini, an associate researcher at the Water Transport Research Institute of the Ministry of Transport, said that compared with the mobility of the transportation industry, ports have the advantages of relatively centralized regions, relatively simple management, and relatively few public involvement, which is easy to carry out carbon reduction work.
Wang Nini said that although the carbon reduction of ports in various places has achieved remarkable results in recent years, there are also some problems. From the perspective of layout, the spatial layout of some ports is not very reasonable, and there is a great contradiction with urban development. The utilization rate of the coastline is shallow in deep water, and the utilization rate of high-quality coastline is low. In terms of system, it is difficult to promote rail-water intermodal transportation due to the constraints of the port at the time of port construction.
There is still a long way to go to build a green port and achieve a low-carbon and zero-carbon transformation. Photography / Zhang Ke
"From the perspective of the energy consumption structure of the port, the use of electricity has been increasing in recent years. There are some general terminal operations that are still more traditional. In addition, the corresponding standards, monitoring, assessment and evaluation systems for carbon reduction at the terminal are not perfect. Wang Nini said that in recent years, many ports have actively deployed wind power generation and photovoltaic power generation, but there are also many problems. Wind power involves space within ports, some of which are insufficient; Some ports have megawatt-scale photovoltaic facilities, but there are also terminals that cannot install photovoltaic equipment due to the large number of old warehouses.
At the "2024 Towards Zero-Emission Transportation Forum", the "Towards Zero Emissions: Green Transformation and Prospects in China's Non-Road Transportation Sector" report jointly released by the Vehicle Emission Monitoring Center of the Chinese Academy of Environmental Sciences, Wuhan Yangtze River Ship Design Institute, and China Comprehensive Transportation Research Center of Beijing Jiaotong University said that ports are an important component of the global supply chain, and green transformation is very important. However, at present, there are uncertainties in the technical path of emission reduction, challenges in the reliable supply of green fuels, a wide variety of terminal operating machinery, complex operating environments, imperfect standard systems, and high regulatory difficulties.
A number of experts said that the electrification of port energy-using equipment should continue to be promoted, the proportion of clean energy should be increased, and the transportation authorities should strengthen the supervision of carbon emissions, constantly improve the means, and encourage enterprises to continuously reduce carbon emissions through independent and voluntary behavior.
(This article is from Yicai)