Port of Tyne reveals it is ahead of meeting emissions targets and calls for collaboration at the UK’s first Maritime Innovation Week
Port of Tyne’s digital data platform project will be a key part in meeting emissions goals, the UK port revealed on day one of Maritime Innovation Week (MIW), delivered by Port of Tyne’s Maritime 2050 Innovation Hub between 13-16 June, which is focused on the transition to decarbonisation and digitalisation.
MIW comes on the back of the UK Government’s Maritime 2050 strategy, which sets out what it hopes to achieve in terms of decarbonisation.
Port of Tyne chair Lucy Armstrong told delegates, “Maritime 2050 was a very thoughtful and helpful framework and guidelines, whether working in maritime banking, a seafarer, shipbuilder, port or skills provider. This informed us when setting our own innovation strategy.”
The MIW is part of the port’s Maritime Innovation Hub, which was set up to meet Maritime 2050 targets – the aim by government was 2020, but the port managed to establish its hub in 2019, within six months.
Port of Tyne chief executive Matt Beeton told the audience, “We are proud to start something off that we hope will be an annual event. We want this event to be a benchmark, to set the bar high this year, and if we are able to do this every year, we want the bar to be raised each time we do it.
“Our innovation hub opened in 2019… the more we thought about it the more we realised ports are one tiny link in a whole chain of logistics, so we want our solution to be part of a wider chain.
“When talking about smart technology, we were keen smart ports shouldn’t be just about automation, it is about being part of something bigger, a digital ecostructure.”
He explained the Port of Tyne has taken Maritime 2050 targets and brought them forward. “They want to be carbon neutral by 2050, we want to be carbon neutral by 2030 and will probably do that by 2028.”
The port wants to be all-electric by 2040 and a test bed for clean energy.
Mr Beeton also announced the port has partnered with BT to install a 5G private network and other cutting-edge surveillance and smart technology. The arrival of 5G means the Port and customers can take full advantage of advanced technology, including robotics and autonomous vehicles, artificial intelligence and internet of things applications.
The new infrastructure will use Ericsson equipment and will be live later this year, providing fast and low-latency connectivity across the port’s entire estate.
Mr Beeton said, “5G is an enabler and offers us huge potential to implement world-class technology applications and drive progress in the port and maritime sectors. We already have a range of use case scenarios developed through the Innovation Hub and are ready to collaborate with technology companies to validate these exciting fresh solutions.”
An important part of meeting net zero is the port’s clean maritime demonstrator platform, set up with Siemens.
In an interview with CST, Port of Tyne head of innovation and technology Ian Blake explained the port joined a consortium to apply for funding to establish a software platform, to be established by Siemens. The consortium won the funding and the seven-month project, which ran from September last year to March this year, pulled together the port’s data and did an energy audit using a baseline.
It has enabled the port to have a roadmap. Mr Blake said, “We are looking at solar, tidal and other power, and we now have the metrics in the system to see the biggest bang for our buck and where we can deliver more quickly.”
The system has also allowed the port to automate previously manual areas, such as spread sheets.
Commenting on the impact on energy use in port, Port of Tyne innovation manager energy and sustainability Eleni Bougioukou told CST, “We are able to map out energy usage in port. When this was done manually, we couldn’t get the whole picture of the energy usage and how to harness all the different clean energies. Through the system map, we can map out better where we need more energy. In our ferry and cruise terminals we are able to see what extra power we need and ways we can generate shore power through clean energy. It is helping us become carbon neutral by giving us a better idea of what needed.”
The port has set itself ambitious targets. “We want to have a clean energy test bed by 2025 and we are well on the way with that and our 2030 aim [to be net zero] is 20 years ahead [of targets set by Maritime 2050]. This system helps,” said Mr Blake.
Speaking about the roll-out of 5G, Mr Blake said “We need to review data usage to make sure it is the right data and use it widely. But before we do anything, we need connectivity. 5G connectivity will link every inch of the site to every other inch in the port and install sensors and links to cranes. It will allow information in real time – it will be a game-changer if we know how performances are in real time to make effective changes. We can optimise operational delivery.”
Port of Tyne is the first port to self-fund 5G in UK.
A large part of Port of Tyne’s strategy is to collaborate with other ports. “Part of the ethos of the Maritime Innovation Hub is to be the maritime innovation hub for the whole of the UK,” said Mr Blake. “While it is based at Port of Tyne, we want to share our information and knowledge with any port in the UK that wants to work with us. There are competitive barriers and there is plenty of information we won’t share if it is commercial and still competitive. But there is a myriad we can share, including health and safety, energy, cyber security and environmental. These are shared challenges for everyone and we want to bring ports together to work on that.
He said the Port of Tyne was looking to set up a trust port group to share that information.
Ms Bougioukou said, “We believe co-operation is important in everything we do in terms of net zero. We have been talking to another UK port and exchanging views on HVO fuel as we are doing a trial and we are trying to see what works.”
