Marseille Fos achieves AFIR target 4 years before EU deadline

The French port of Marseille Fos has launched an onshore power supply (OPS) system that will allow three cruise ships to connect to shore power at the same time.

IMAGE: Aerial view of Port of Marseille-Fos in France. Medports Association

Each vessel will be able to draw up to 16-megawatt of power output, the port authority said. The connections are linked to solar power stations installed at the port, making the electricity supplied fully renewable.

The Mediterranean port also offers shore power connections for ferries serving routes to Corsica and international routes to the Maghreb.

The Maghreb is a northwestern region of Africa comprising Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Mauritania.

The addition of cruise ship OPS connections means Marseille Fos has met its Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR) requirement four years ahead of the EU deadline, the port authority added.

The EU’s AFIR will mandate major coastal and inland ports within the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) to provide shore power for container and passenger ships over 5,000 gross tonnage (GT) from 2030.

The regulation will require at least 90% of annual port calls at these ports to be connected to OPS.

By Konica Bhatt

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