New grant scheme for sea-going vessel shore power installations

Advantages of shore power

Shore power enables vessels to use a shore-based connection to the electrical grid, when berthed. When underway, vessels use their own generators to generate electricity. But when they’re berthed at the quayside for loading and unloading, running diesel-powered generators has an unnecessary negative impact on the environment. If shore power replaces this, it will result in considerable emission reductions of carbon dioxide, nitrogen and particulates. Local residents will also no longer have to put up with the noise made by vessel generators.

Objective of the scheme

The objective of the Temporary grant scheme 2022-2023 for sea-going vessel shore power installations is two-fold:

• reduce nitrogen deposition in nitrogen sensitive and nitrogen overloaded Natura 2000 areas
• reduce noise emissions and improve air quality in the immediate vicinity.

Budget and opening

A total of 31 million euros is available for the grant scheme. This budget is spread across four tenders, each with its own opening period:

• 21 March 2022 to 21 May 2022 (budget: 10 million euros)
• 1 September 2022 to 4 November 2022 (budget: 8 million euros)
• 16 January 2023 to 31 March 2023 (budget: 6.5 million euros)
• 19 June 2023 to 15 September 2023 (budget: 6.5 million euros).

Grants and assessment

The grants are issued for the purchase and installation of shore power services for sea-going vessels (not for leisure craft). The amount of the grant is up to 35% of the eligible costs, with a maximum of 5 million euros per project.

Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) is running the scheme. Applications will be assessed according to various selection criteria that focus mainly on the actual positive impact of the proposed shore power supply.