Danish Port of Kalundborg lifts net-zero efforts with new equipment

The Port of Kalundborg in Denmark has revealed it will electrify all cranes in its deep-water container terminal within seven months to further lift the standard of responsibility.

The terminal, operated by APM Terminals since March 2021, additionally announced that the container handling equipment in the short term will run on HVO100 fuel – or hydrotreated vegetable oil. The port expects that this will reduce CO2 emissions by 90 percent. In the longer term, the terminal will look into other decarbonized solutions for the container handling equipment, for instance batteries.

Mikael Gutman, CEO APM Terminals Nordics, said the Port of Kalundborg has “vast potential” as an environmentally friendly and faster route to the important market in and around Zealand.

“With the measures we are taking, we can offer a green gateway to the Zealand market,” said Gutman.

“Not only is this unique in a Danish context – it is also unique internationally and places Kalundborg on the world map as a leader of the green energy transition.”

Kalundborg will become one of only a handful of APM Terminals to use the biofuel, joining APM Terminals Gothenburg and P400 in Los Angeles which has used a similar renewable diesel since 2021.

The announcement was made a few days after APM Terminals and DP World released a joint White Paper calling for the electrification of terminal equipment on a global scale. The Port of Kalundborg has been one of the first port authorities to back the Net-Zero Ports initiative.

The White Paper says that the tipping point for battery-electric CHE can be reached within the next 2-8 years. However, this does require immediate action by terminal operators, OEMs of CHE, and public authorities, notably port authorities.