This Friday, Renaud Muselier, President of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Region, visited the Grand Port Maritime de Marseille. On this occasion, he attended the presentation of the connection installations: the linkage boom between the electrical cable and the ship, the electrical connection, and the electric substation.
Accompanied by Hervé Martel, President of the Management Board of the Grand Port of Marseille, and Christophe Mirmand, Prefect of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, they then proceeded to sign the “Sud Connect” and “Cop d’avance” agreements. Indeed, as part of its regional climate plan “Une Cop d’avance”, the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Region committed in 2019 to the air quality of its port cities, with the implementation of a dockside electrification system for ships calling at the three major ports on the southern Mediterranean coast: the “Escales Zéro Fumée” Project.
“Escales Zero Fumée”, the deployment of dockside electrical connections for ships
Renaud Muselier visiting the Grand Port Maritime de Marseille
During the Plenary Assembly on October 16, 2019, the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Region voted for “Escales zéro fumées”, a system implemented for all commercial ports in the territory, in favor of an increasingly green and clean maritime transport. Indeed, the Region wishes to mobilize its funding and raise European funds to support port authorities and shipowners in meeting this challenge with a total package of 30 million euros.
The Southern Region has decided to finance dockside connections because they represent the most environmentally efficient solution, particularly for the residents of the ports with the elimination of all atmospheric emissions.
– 20 million € for the electrical connection infrastructures of ships set up by port authorities (the Grand Port Maritime de Marseille, the Toulon-Provence-Méditerranée Metropolis, the Nice-Côte d’Azur Metropolis).
- 5 million euros for the electrical equipment of ships owned by maritime companies.
- 2 million euros to encourage the energy mix of ports through the intervention frameworks of the Region in terms of photovoltaic renewable energy production.
- 1 million euros for the development of a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) supply chain in the Mediterranean.
- 1 million euros for the installation of particle filters on ship chimneys.
- 1 million euros for environmental protection associations and citizen consultation actions.
The words of Renaud Muselier
Renaud Muselier, President of the Côte d’Azur Region, delivering a speech in Marseille
“For our region, the ports of Marseille-Fos, Toulon, and Nice are genuine social, economic, and human arteries. They are essential for industrialization, trade, and are areas that political actors always mistakenly ignore. Within the framework of the regional climate plan ‘Une Cop d’avance,’ we voted for the ‘Escales Zéro Fumée’ system in 2019 and have since committed all necessary means for the air quality of port cities.” explains Renaud Muselier.
“This system aims to provide the answer and solution to a major societal issue. Can we accept the deterioration of air quality in port cities caused by maritime activity? And can we, just as much, imagine the end of these activities, of massive employment, and the wealth they generate? The answer is no! Air quality is no longer just a health issue, but a societal issue more topical than ever.” he adds.
Progress report on the “Escales Zero Fumée” plan
In 2019, for the Port of Marseille, out of a total of 1,100 calls, 90% of Corsican calls were connected. The Arenc mole is electrified with three dockside stations, three ferries of La Méridionale and 3 Corsica Linea are equipped (Kalliste, Girolata, and Piana and Paglia Orba, Pascal Paoli, Jean Nicoli respectively).
The next step is the electrical connection of international calls at Cap Janet by the end of 2022. The notification for the works contract is scheduled for the second quarter of 2021. Simultaneously, there are plans to equip 4 Algerian ferries and two to three ships of the Tunisian Navigation Company. At the Port of Toulon, the start of works for the electrification of 3 docks is underway for commissioning in the fourth quarter of 2022. The equipment of ships owned by Corsica Ferries faced delays due to the COVID crisis, but the shipowner’s intention is to equip its four ships during their technical stops starting early 2022.
Finally, at the Port of Nice, yachts represent the majority vessel type (64% in cumulative call duration) yet 85% of yachts already have an electrical connection. Given the current traffic, the additional low-voltage equipment for all docks for yachts amounts to 1.3 million euros. The Nice-Côte d’Azur Metropolis seeks to redevelop its port and anticipates ferry and medium cruise unit port traffic by planning an average voltage power supply of 2.9 million € per quay on 2 other docks.
Currently, 90% of ferries cannot connect as the duration of their call is less than two hours. The total cost of the grant application file submitted to the FEDER call for projects is 7.1 million euros, with a FEDER grant amount exceeding 4 million euros and 1.6 million euros for the Region. This project is part of the Nice Regional Territorial Balance Contract (CRET).
