DP World to scale up London Gateway with £1bn investment, bolstering UK trade capacity

UAE-based logistics titan DP World is set to invest £1 billion (approximately $1.3 billion) in expanding the London Gateway facility, with the aim of increasing the terminal’s capacity and enhancing the UK’s international trade resilience.

As informed, the investment will see the addition of two new shipping berths at London Gateway, increasing the total to six. This is expected to enable the facility to handle some of the world’s largest boxships and ‘significantly’ boost its operational capacity.

A second rail terminal is also slated for construction. As per DP World, its purpose will be to manage the anticipated rise in container traffic. By the end of the project, the port’s 2.5-kilometer quayside is projected to be capable of accommodating six vessels at the same time, each exceeding 400 meters in length.

The expansion plans also include the introduction of Europe’s ‘tallest’ quay cranes, towering over the port at a height comparable to Big Ben, according to DP World.

“As this commitment demonstrates, London Gateway’s location and transport infrastructure are ideally placed for expansion. With extra capacity comes the reliability and supply chain resilience so important to our customers and consumers, especially in uncertain times such as the pandemic and disruption due to geopolitical events,” Ernst Schulze, CEO for Ports & Terminals at DP World UK, highlighted.

The move is anticipated to take the total investment by DP World at London Gateway to exceed £3 billion, converting, as a result, the site of a former oil refinery into one of the ‘largest and most important logistics hubs in the UK.’

Moreover, DP World revealed that the site recently saw the addition of a £350 million fourth berth—the ‘first’ to be entirely powered by electricity and which will soon accept its first ship.

Subject to planning approval and regulatory requirements, this expansion could greatly increase the volume of trade at the port which currently handles nearly 2 million TEU annually.

As part of London Gateway’s sustainability endeavors, at the start of January 2024, DP World went fossil-free by switching the diesel-engine equipment and installations at the facility over to run on hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO).

Since it is a renewable biodiesel derived from sustainable sources, HVO could likely lower carbon dioxide emissions at the hub by a great margin, with an estimate of preventing around 8,300 tons of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) from being emitted into the air by the end of 2024.

Building on its sustainability momentum, in August 2024, DP World set a new emissions reduction target upon receiving validation from the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) for its resolve to minimize its carbon footprint.

Within the scope of this pledge, the UAE-based giant vowed to cut down scope 1 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 42%, scope 2 by 62.2%, and absolute scope 3 by 28% by 2030 (from a 2022 base year).