The plan, which will be detailed this year, foresee the decarbonisation and energy self-sufficiency, 15 years before the deadline set by the EU.

 

The Port of Leixões started the energy transition process that will lead it to achieve carbon neutrality by 2035, making it the first port in Europe to be self-sufficient in terms of energy, with the capacity to obtain all its energy from renewable sources. Throughout this year, APDL will present its Energy Transition Roadmap, which should guide concrete actions aimed at making Leixões one of the first non-polluting ports, placing it at the level of the main ports in the world and redoubling its commitment to the growth of a sustainable activity.

Achieving carbon neutrality and energy self-sufficiency by 2035, will mean doing so 15 years earlier than stipulated in the so-called European Green Deal. A commitment made by all EU member states to achieve climate neutrality and setting out a continental strategy to make European ports the first emission-free zone in the world by 2050.

At the level of the main European ports

Leixões is thus at the forefront of European ports in the transition to a new energy model that guarantees port activity and economic progress, making it compatible with an environmental sensitivity assumed to generate new development opportunities, compatible with sustainability and population health.

"The goal is to become an international reference port in southern Europe in the transition to a new energy system based on the use of its own natural resources, with the ambition to be a self-sufficient port with zero emissions", according to Nuno Araújo, President of the Board of Directors of APDL.

Digitization and use of own resources

The decarbonisation plan does not only include measures aimed at phasing out fossil fuels but also the main source of energy in port activity. The search for innovative formulas to generate energy using the natural resources of the port, the search for alternative proposals to be more efficient in consumption, the electrification and the use of all the resources that digitalization makes available to us, will mean a leap in quality for the port and the promotion of new synergies that will generate jobs and business for the country.

Achieving the stated objective will require a high degree of motivation in all areas of the port, as well as an enormous mobilization of human and economic resources, although the expected benefits at the socio-economic, environmental, health and quality of life of the local and regional community, make up for this effort.

The most ambitious social claim to promote economic growth in accordance with respect for the planet requires an additional effort from all public institutions. APDL hopes to live up to this historic moment and the demands of Portuguese society and economy.

Project Team

For the implementation of the plan that will define the actions to be undertaken to successfully complete the decarbonization project, APDL teams are working closely with the Spanish consulting company specializing in energy transition projects, Inova Labs.

The project team is working hard to define the plan and its different priority lines of action, which will be progressively announced.

April of 2021