EU boosts IMO’s energy-efficiency project with additional €10mln investment

The European Commission has revealed it will invest an additional €10 million for an energy-efficiency project to reduce international shipping’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through a global network of Maritime Technology Cooperation Centres (MTCCs), which is managed by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).

The project, funded by the European Union (EU), began work in 2016, establishing five regional MTCCs around the world. The centers promoted energy efficiency through national and regional capacity-building seminars, as well as demonstration projects (in Shanghai, Nairobi, Fiji, Trinidad and Tobago and Panama).

The projects involved port energy-efficiency assessments, equipping port vessels with solar power, and establishing data collection systems for ship GHG emissions.

The new funding makes possible a second phase of the project, focusing on portside energy efficiency measures.

Specifically, the pilot projects will install energy-saving technologies, such as LED lighting systems and shore-to-ship power supply. Bunkering facilities for alternative fuels may also be considered. 

Furthermore, this phase will include the retrofitting of certain vessels: domestic vessels could be fitted with energy-saving technologies using wind and solar power, or alternative fuels. Two national pilot projects will take place in regions with a high concentration of Small Island Developing States and Least Developed Countries (the MTCC regions of Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific).

This project is part of the EU Global Gateway strategy,to boost smart, clean, and secure links in the world.

The project and the centres are included in the IMO’s 2018 GHG emission reduction strategy in the context of ensuring an equitable transition through technology assistance for developing countries.

“In the ongoing revision of the IMO’s strategy, addressing equitable transition will be key. The European Commission, along with EU Member States, advocates greater ambition so that global shipping emissions can be phased out by 2050,” according to the IMO.