- The Chairman of the Port Authority of Seville and the General Manager of Endesa in Andalusia, Extremadura, Ceuta and Melilla signed a collaboration protocol to support the Port of Seville in the transition process towards a more sustainable energy model. The event was attended by the Mayor of Seville and the Minister of Sustainability, Environment and Blue Economy of the Regional Government of Andalusia.
- Endesa presented a collaboration proposal to make the Port of Seville a benchmark in sustainability through an ePort initiative, which will provide a working environment for a number of areas of action, including the following: Electrification, sustainable port community, industry for the transition, alternative fuels and circular economy.
The Port Authority of Seville and Endesa today signed a collaboration protocol for the design and planning of a series of measures to facilitate the energy transition of the port environment before 2030 and make it a national benchmark with regard to sustainability and energy efficiency.
During the presentation ceremony, which was attended by the Mayor of Seville, Antonio Muñoz, and the Minister of Sustainability, Environment and Blue Economy of the Regional Government of Andalusia, Ramón Fernández-Pacheco, the Chairman of the Port Authority of Seville, Rafael Carmona, and Endesa's General Manager for Andalusia, Extremadura, Ceuta and Melilla, Rafael Sánchez Durán, detailed the key features of this agreement, which aims to complete the transformation of energy management in the port environment in accordance with the parameters of European, state and regional regulations on decarbonisation before 2030.
This collaboration protocol will define an action plan to establish a design to transform the Port of Seville into a greener, decarbonised port committed to renewable energies and with greater energy efficiency. To achieve this, an energy-efficient model will be created that integrates sustainable mobility, renewable energy, energy storage and the digitalisation of processes by means of "open data" and distributed platforms which will enable the Port of Seville to be a benchmark for this type of environment nationally and internationally.
For Rafael Carmona, Chairman of the Port Authority of Seville, "this protocol is a starting point that will enable us to design and project, together with Endesa, more efficient and sustainable infrastructures and services, to promote the use of renewable energies and create energy communities, promote shared consumption and provide solutions that will increase and improve the port's electricity needs".
The Chairman of the Port Authority also announced that "we are already working to establish more efficient and sustainable management of energy". With regard to this, Rafael Carmona specified that "we plan to put out a tender for the improvement of the lighting in the port with the change to LED lighting in areas such as the lock, the Armamento and Batán Norte docks, the Industrial Shipyards and in a number of public roads. We would also like to implement photovoltaic panels on the roofs of the lock so that consumption in this infrastructure becomes 100% renewable".
Rafael Sánchez Durán also stressed that "Endesa is the ideal partner to undertake the energy transition of the ports on the Andalusian coast, since it has the experience of a solid multimodal energy company, with extensive knowledge and territorial roots, with more than 127 years' experience, as well as the experience gained by promoting state-of-the-art projects in innovation for the adaptation of cities to the energy needs of the future". In this regard, he insisted that "Endesa's ePort project provides the necessary tools to implement a holistic vision of sustainability in the port environment and to combine this with integration into cities".
The mayor of Seville, Antonio Muñoz, highlighted the steps he is taking "to consolidate the city as a great capital prepared to lead one of the main challenges we need to meet as a society: Sustainability, reducing emissions and the fight against climate change. This is why we have been selected by the European Commission to achieve climate neutrality by 2030 and become an emission-free city. Today, within the framework of the public-private partnership, we are taking a further step so that one of our economic engines, the Port of Seville, will become a benchmark for sustainability and decarbonisation, setting an example at national and international level", he concluded.
On Friday, the Minister of Sustainability, Environment and Blue Economy of the Regional Government of Andalusia, Ramón Fernández-Pacheco emphasised the need for a commitment to the transition to green ports, "where the circular economy will play an essential role in the efficient use of resources and, decarbonisation, achieved by improving energy efficiency and the use of renewable energies, will be a key factor when combating climate change and its adverse effects."
Fernández-Pacheco assured us that this agreement is "a clear example of public-private collaboration that focusses on the importance of having ports that are green, resilient and ultimately, sustainable". In this regard, he pointed out that the Ports of General Interest for the State, one of which is the Port Authority of Seville, have a very important role to play in the reduction of carbon emissions into the atmosphere and in the transition towards a more sustainable model from the economic, social and environmental point of view.
Fernández-Pacheco pointed out that ports are an essential feature of this blue economy that already generates employment and that also has many possibilities to generate green employment, as shown by the protocol that was signed. He also invited ports to move towards a circular production model so that waste is converted into new resources.
Regulatory environment
European ports face the challenge of responding in the short term to the regulatory requirements and initiatives integrated into different national environmental plans, including the National Air Quality Plan, the Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan, the Spanish Circular Economy Strategy, as well as in the Marine Strategies and Hydrological Plans linked to the improvement of marine and coastal aquatic ecosystems.
In this regard, this action protocol offers the Port of Seville a framework for collaboration for the organisation and development of actions that will help to achieve a greener port model in an open, digital, decarbonised and sustainable ecosystem, which will enable the energy and climate objectives established by the European Union to be achieved by 2030.
ePort Areas of Action
With this in mind, the protocol focuses on the study and planning of a number of fields of action and areas of work that will enable the following objectives to be achieved:
1. Electrification of ports by promoting the electrification of operations as the most direct route to sustainability:
- Solutions for the decarbonisation of maritime transport, including OPS (Onshore Power Supply) for the connection of ships to the terrestrial electricity grid during their stay in the port, so that the auxiliary engines used to keep the vessel operating can be turned off while it remains in dock.
- The energy produced and consumed in the Port of Seville will be 100% renewable and based on a network of distributed energy resources, which will encourage shared consumption and local energy communities.
- Development of hybridised energy storage solutions that enable its maximum use.
- Reorganisation and expansion of the port's electrical infrastructures in accordance with current regulations.
- Transformation of the electricity distribution network into a smart grid, capable of integrating distributed resources and scaling up in accordance with demand and the injection of renewables.
- Development of charging infrastructures for all types of electric vehicles for the port and the city.
2. Sustainable port communities focussed on resource efficiency through the following:
- Energy assessment for the main buildings to achieve optimal energy certifications (as close as possible to A) and development of measures that increase their efficiency (air conditioning, LED lighting, insulation, intelligent energy management, etc.).
- Development towards intelligent and efficient lighting in outdoor spaces.
- Transition of the buildings in the Port so they become NZEB (Nearly Zero-Emission Buildings) and optimisation of their intelligence and interaction with the ecosystem.
3. Industries for the transition, identifying companies related to the development of renewable energies, storage and other similar functions that are interested in locating their activity on land in the port.
4. Urban integration and circular economy:
- Analysis of opportunities for port-city collaboration to manage the spaces more efficiently from an energy point of view.
- Circular economy measures for the management, processing and recovery of waste, turning it into resources for new economic activities.
5. Alternative fuels by promoting innovation in new fuels, such as green hydrogen, and implementing commercial solutions and services in the field of alternative fuels.
6. Digitalisation by applying an intelligent management platform for all port resources and services, based on open data schemes, sensorisation and digital transfer models (Digital Twin) and distributed management.
Public-private collaboration
This action protocol offers open and collaborative participation between all public and private entities that operate or are based in the Port of Seville and which will play a very significant role in its energy transition.
About Endesa
Endesa is the largest electricity company in Spain and the second largest in Portugal. The company is also the second largest gas operator in the Spanish market. Endesa operates an end-to-end generation, distribution and marketing business. Through Endesa X it also offers value-added services aimed at the electrification of energy use in homes, companies, industries and Public Administrations. Endesa is firmly committed to the United Nations SDGs and strongly supports the development of renewable energies through Enel Green Power España, the digitalisation of grids through e-distribución, and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The Endesa Foundation is also active in CSR-related matters. Our workforce numbers around 9,260 employees. Endesa is a division of Enel, the largest electricity group in Europe.
About the Port of Seville
The Port of Seville is the only inland seaport in Spain. It is located in one of the country's main metropolitan areas, with more than one and a half million inhabitants in the surrounding area and in the energy producing centre of the south of mainland Spain. It is a completely multimodal port with maritime and land connections and its 850 hectares include a large area for logistics and industrial development.
The Port of Seville is strategic for Europe. It is a main hub of the Core Network and is part of the Mediterranean corridor in the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T); as well as the Atlantic corridor together with the Guadalquivir waterway, due to the importance of inland waterways for the EU.
The Port of Seville has six port terminals under concession and three public docks, more than 4,000 metres of berths, one million square metres of warehouses and a cruise terminal in the centre of the city.