The UK Maritime Minister Mike Kane has announced plans to allocate up to £9 million for green shipping corridor projects from the Smart Shipping Acceleration Fund (SSAF).
The UK Government has today unveiled new funding for feasibility studies to develop green shipping corridors between the UK and the EU. The Department for Transport (DfT) has said that up to £9 million of match funding will made available for 30 projects in the UK.
Green corridors are zero-emission maritime routes connecting two or more ports. Today’s funding announcement will allocate resources to developing future routes, including from the Port of Tyne to the Port of Ijmuiden (Netherlands) and the Port of Holyhead to the Port of Dublin.
The Department for Transport indicated that agreements for green corridor development from the UK to Norway and Denmark are in progress, with leaders for these projects due to be confirmed soon.
The UK has spearheaded the development of green corridor since it launched the Clydebank Declaration at COP26 in Glasgow.
Maritime Minister Kane said of the announcement: “Shipping is a big contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions, so these new green corridors could be a real game changer for industry. This is exactly the direction we need to be going in to achieve our mission of becoming a clean energy superpower.
“These new corridors could turbocharge the use of sustainable fuels, secure the green jobs of the future and advance environmentally friendly travel to major European capitals like Amsterdam and Dublin.”
Matt Beeton, Port of Tyne CEO, commented: “This important green infrastructure will ensure that the Port of Tyne and the Port of Ijmuiden are supporting decarbonised routes between the North East of England and Europe with the aim of saving up to 850,000 tonnes of CO2 annually.”
Ian Davies, Head of UK Port Authorities at Stena Line, said: “We’re delighted to have been awarded this funding to explore establishing the first ‘green corridor’ between Wales and Ireland. Stena Line aims to be a leader in sustainability in the industry, and we look forward to collaborating with our partners to assess the infrastructure needs in Holyhead Port to support a fossil-free shipping corridor to Dublin Port, working together with both ferry operators.”
Mike Biddle, Executive Director for Net Zero at Innovate UK, added: “With this year’s round of competitions delivering a host of exciting prospective technologies, from smart shipping drones to methanol-fuelled vessels, UK SHORE looks to accelerate the adoption of these sustainable solutions and help the UK drive towards its Net Zero targets.”
In addition to the £9 million announcement, the DfT also revealed that it has granted £640,958 of further funding into feasibility studies for green corridors as part of the fifth round of the Government’s Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition (CMDC5).
SSAF and CMDC5 are both funded by the UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions (UK Shore) programme.
Source: UK Department for Transport