Port of Gothenburg works with APM Terminals to maintain its position as one of the world's most sustainable ports

In terms of size, the Port of Gothenburg does not qualify for the top 100 largest ports in the world, but when it comes to climate, the Gothenburg freight hub is at the top. In this interview, Edvard Molitor is Head of Sustainability at Port of Gothenburg, explains how Port of Gothenburg is working together with APM Terminals and other terminal operators to be one of the world’s most sustainable ports. Edvard is primarily focused on external, international contacts and active in lobbying the EU and IMO to move towards fair regulations for the climate transition in boat transport.

What is the Port of Gothenburg's vision when it comes to sustainability?
We want to reduce the entire freight hub’s CO2 emissions by 70% by 2030. For a long time now, we've also had a vision of being the world’s most sustainable port, and we're close to achieving that vision now, and we want to continue that way in the future.

How is Port of Gothenburg working to reduce carbon dioxide emissions?
We're working on different levels: the port, the land and the maritime. On the port side, we're working together with terminal operators to find ways of reducing emissions, primarily by switching to fossil-free fuels for the machinery. Back in 2020, we reduced emissions by more than 70%, thanks to APM Terminals’ transition to HVO in their machines, so we were able to tick off the climate target for our port operations.

Our next step is helping the land and maritime, and this involves promoting electrification and new types of fuels such as methanol, hydrogen and ammonia, or biofuels. We're working to reduce the cost gap between conventional fuels and new, alternative fuels. The smaller the gap, the quicker the transition will be.

How are you facilitating the use of alternative fuels?
Natural gas (LNG) is the current solution, it's available here and now. We've made sure that regulations are in place for the use and bunkering of LNG in the port area, and we've also set up refuelling stations and supply chains.

Shore connection is high on the agenda, can you tell us a little about that?
We built the first high-voltage on-shore electrical connections 20 years ago. The challenges have been about finding interested terminals and committed goods owners who are willing to take on the cost. Right now, we're looking at shore connection for container ships at APM Terminals, where we are seeing an increased demand.

The challenge of connecting container ships electrically is that several different vessels are moving in different loops. That’s why we're collaborating with other continental ports, such as Hamburg, Rotterdam and Antwerp, to jointly create better conditions for shore connections in the container segment.

What can terminal operators in the Gothenburg freight hub do to achieve greater sustainability?
Promoting climate-friendly port calls, transferring as much cargo as possible to railways, and anything that needs to go on trucks should go on 'clean' trucks.