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Africa Viewpoint
DAMIETTA PORT ACCELERATES GREEN DRIVE
Egypt's Damietta Port in Egypt is accelerating its drive to replace its fossil fuel-powered cranes with electric cargo lifting equipment to save on fuel and reduce diesel emissions, writes Shem Oirere
The port, run bu Damietta Ports Authority (DPA), is one of the 15 commercial ports in Egypt that is improving operations to achieve “international classification as environment friendly green ports.”
According to DPA chairman Walid Awad, Damietta port “is successfully” making a shift from carbon emitting fuels to the use of “environmentally friendly electric powered cranes for handling operations.”
GOING ELECTRIC
DPA said in a statement the introduction of electric equipment for lifting containerised and non-containerised cargo “aims to curb harmful effects of using traditionally fueled systems and promote environment friendly techniques to minimize harmful emissions” in the quest to transform Damietta “into a global standard green port.”
Damietta, which in the first quarter of 2020 reported a 26.6% increase in ship traffic to 871, comprising container, general cargo, dry bulk, liquid bulk and special freight vessels, has also introduced the onshore power supply (OPS) system or shore side electricity “to provide ships while at berth with electricity instead of using the ship's own turbines.”
Additionally, the Egyptian maritime sector, through the OPS system, hopes to secure the “commitment of the vessels calling at Egyptian ports to the national and international environmental requirements,” specifically the use of shore-to-ship power to cut down on emissions and fuel burning.
Increasingly shifting towards electric powered equipment and more use of shore side electricity by docked vessels, is in line with Egypt's Maritime Transport Sector Strategy, Development & Increasing the Competitiveness of Ports initiative.
The overall aim is to improve and expand the competitiveness of the country's ports including “raising the environmental classification of Egyptian seaports to be transformed into green ports to achieve environment sustainability,” according to DPA.
RENEWABLE FOCUS
Moreover, operators of Egypt's seaports including DPA are constantly “reviewing the environmental requirements and standards in accordance with the national and international laws and conventions as well as the resolutions related to stevedoring, bunkering and waste dumping operations in addition to taking the necessary corrective actions,” according to the maritime transport strategy.
The Egyptian government, through the maritime transport strategy is pushing harder for the “use of renewable energy sources in the operation of port facilities to achieve energy savings and environment protection.” In the past, Damietta, has partnered with Konecranes in the port's drive to cut its carbon footprint through acquisition of emission-free cargo lifting equipment. This includes 2009 and 2015 RTG crane orders to support the port's increasing containerised and noncontainerised cargo that was estimated at 38.5 million tonnes and 1 million teu respectively in 2019.
Konecranes said the RTG cranes for Damietta were highperformance, 16-wheel RTGs with a lifting capacity of 40 tonnes, a stacking height of 1-over-5 and a stacking width of 7 plus truck lane wide.
For port operators who opt for the Konecranes' Busbar option, the company easily converts diesel RTG cranes to the Busbar operation, where the diesel engine is replaced with a power collector, making the machine fully electric, according to Konecranes.
But even as Egypt pushes for zero marine emissions at the country's ports, the biggest challenge, according to the Ministry of Transport is how to mobilise global commitment “to the implementation of international environmental standards on vessels, in order to reduce marine environment pollution to reach the concept of green ports in light of the global trend towards these types of ports.”
But with what Damietta has been able to achieve so far, Egypt's push for green status of its entire seaport network seems achievable and within sight.
8 DPA is constantly
