Fundación Valenciaport has begun work on the POWER4MED project, an initiative that seeks to boost the transition towards carbon neutrality in maritime transport.
This goal requires, in the short term, the use of transition fuels such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) and, in the medium term, ensuring the supply of green fuels such as green hydrogen, methanol or ammonia.
However, dealing with this complexity can be very difficult for small vessel operators, so POWER4MED will provide a support structure and a set of tools that will facilitate the path to carbon neutrality for three sectors: fishing vessels, commercial vessels and marinas.
This initiative, led by SDG4MED (Sustainable Development Goal for the Mediterranean), and in which Fundación Valenciaport participates, has a budget of nearly 800,000 euros, co-financed by the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF) programme of the European Executive Agency for Climate, Infrastructure and Environment (CINEA).
The main objectives of POWER4MED include analysing what operators are looking for and what fuel alternatives are available; assessing energy investment options, considering the need for short-term investments and the cost structure for adaptation; assessing and piloting financial tools to support decarbonisation; and piloting adaptation costs for the greening of local infrastructures and the transition of ships to fully sustainable fuel sources.
In addition, the POWER4MED support structure will be developed as a means to use the results after the end of the project and will network with relevant EU initiatives ensuring their dissemination in a wide area of the Mediterranean.
The POWER4MED consortium
In addition to SDG4MED and Fundación Valenciaport, POWER4MED involves Rina Consulting S.P.A; Yachting Malta Ltd; Universite Des Sciences et de la Technologie D'oran; Kholeif Suzan (PROMEC) and Elkon Elektrik Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş.