On 24 January the European Commission published its Clean Fuel Strategy. The aim of this strategy is to address the remaining barriers preventing the real breakthrough of alternative fuels. As part of this strategy, the Commission obliges all TEN-T core inland ports to have a publicly accessible LNG refuelling point for inland waterway transport  by 2025 at the latest. The Commission proposal is also obliging all ports to install shore side electricity supply for waterborne vessels provided that it is cost-effective and has environmental benefits.
The European Federation of Inland Ports welcomes a European Policy that is stimulating the use of LNG as alternative fuel for inland shipping and the use of shore side electricity in inland ports. EFIP stresses in that respect that inland waterway transport has every reason to endorse such a strategy since it can help the IWT sector in maintaining and further developing its green image. European inland ports also acknowledge that the lack of adequate bunker facilities for LNG can indeed be considered as one of the obstacles to an effective breakthrough of this alternative fuel.
But EFIP is also formulating some critical comments to the binding provisions in the Commission proposal.
EFIP’s Director Isabelle Ryckbost explains: “We fully endorse a European policy that is giving its support to the deployment of LNG as alternative fuel in inland navigation. We also hope that the LNG financial support schemes that are launched under the latest TEN-T calls will be repeated in the framework of the forthcoming TEN-T policy. But we believe we should not anticipate the results of studies that are in the pipeline and which precisely aim at defining what the needs are in terms of refuelling points and what the feasibility is of the different options. Moreover it is clear that a strict scheme of refuelling points can not be imposed on inland ports as long as, based on the current legislation, LNG can neither be used as alternative fuel nor be transported as cargo in inland waterway transport. Lifting this ban is probably the most urgent policy measure to take. As concerns the places for refuelling points, we would therefore favour, at this stage, a more pragmatic approach”.
The European Federation of Inland Ports makes the following observations in its position paper:
-          LNG can become an important alternative fuel for inland navigation, but it seems premature to put forward LNG as thé alternative. Other alternative fuels might be considered in the near future: hydrogen, biofuels (3rd and 4th generation) and electricity (especially for small barges). In that respect, it seems right to stimulate the breakthrough of LNG, as long as it does not exclude the breakthrough of other good alternatives.
-          So far it is in principle forbidden to use LNG as fuel in inland shipping. The few vessels in use on the Rhine have been granted an exemption as pilot projects. Moreover the transport of LNG as cargo by inland waterways is currently also forbidden. This bans are probably the first and most urgent barriers to the breakthrough of LNG in inland navigation. Adapting the existing EU regulations (Directive 2006/87/EG and the ADN) that currently do not allow shipping fuels with flashpoints lower than 55°C (the flashpoint of LNG is around -181°C) and do not allow LNG to be transported by inland waterways seems in that respect a first priority. It is not possible to convince barge owners to use LNG and to oblige ports to invest in LNG refuelling points, if the use of LNG is currently only possible on the basis of temporary and case-by-case exemptions to the current EU rules.
-                     LNG being qualified as a “dangerous substance”, one will have to explore the impact on the existing port installations and activities in a given port.
Ports that are currently not handling hazardous cargo and are not designed to handle such a cargo, may have problems to reserve a dedicated space for LNG fuelling operations (distance to other installations, special mooring places,…). Moreover inland ports are often situated in or near urban areas. In these urban areas it might be, for safety reasons, even more difficult to organise an LNG refuelling point.
-                      It is not clear at this stage what the market needs are, what the needs are in terms of bunkering facilities for LNG and what the economic feasibility is of having a bunkering facility in your port. Different studies are currently being developed to precisely examine the needs in view of establishing an adequate network of bunkering facilities.
The European Federation of Inland Ports is therefore pleading for:
-          A review of the directive 2006/87/EG and the ADN (The European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Inland Waterways) in view of allowing the use of LNG as fuel for inland shipping and as cargo of inland waterway transport. The obligation foreseen in article 6 of the proposal should therefore clearly be linked to the successful review of these regulations.
-          A more pragmatic approach when it comes to imposing refuelling points in inland ports. EFIP proposes to oblige all core TEN-T inland ports to have a refuelling point at least within a certain radius (to be defined) of the port rather than in each core TEN-T port. Such a more pragmatic approach would allow neighbouring ports to agree on which one will provide a refuelling point. This decision can be made in a more coordinated way taking into account the current functions of the port (is there already a dedicated zone for dangerous cargo?) and the geographical situation (which of the neighbouring ports is not laying into a dense urban area?).
-          A long-term vision on how the introduction and further development of LNG will be supported in the framework of the new TEN-T policy. The latest TEN-T calls foresee quite some financial support for the development of LNG in inland waterway transport and the related investments in ports. It is important that this support policy is equally being maintained in the new TEN-T policy framework.
EFIP furthermore supports the balanced approach chosen for shore-side electricity supply installations in ports. It states that using shore side electricity only proves to have an added value when the barges are staying a longer period in the port. For short stays (just loading, unloading) it does not seem so interesting. Moreover, cargo inland barges only need a limited amount of power when they are in the port. On the contrary, for passenger ships, which do make long stops in the ports and which need a lot of power, the use of shore side electricity is interesting and should be stimulated. This issue is currently being examined in the framework of the EU-Interreg NW project “Connecting Citizen Ports 21” (CCP 21).
Finally EFIP fully supports the Commission’s intention to develop technical specifications for the LNG refuelling points and shore side electricity supply.
The interoperability of refuelling points is a very important point. Moreover EFIP believes that one should also aim at developing LNG refuelling points that can serve at the same time road transport and barges.
As concerns the technical specifications for shore side supply, EFIP believes there are already quite some best practices available (ex. in the Netherlands). EFIP hopes these best practices will be taken into account when developing these specifications.
Source: EFIP (European Federation of Inland Ports)