Insights

Ports are among the busiest energy users on any coastline. Yet for decades ships at berth have run their auxiliary engines to keep the lights, hotel loads and cargo systems going. That has meant emissions, noise and poor air quality right next to the communities that live around our harbours. Onshore power supply (OPS), or shore-to-ship power, lets a vessel switch off its engines and take clean electricity from the grid while it is alongside.

The regulatory push is now clear. Under FuelEU Maritime, from 2030 container and passenger ships calling at major European ports will be expected to connect to shore power. Malta, with the Grand Harbour at the heart of Valletta, has been an early mover, building deep experience of operating and managing shore-to-ship connections and balancing this additional demand on the island’s electrical grid.

As OPS systems roll out and increase in size across Europe, resilience and reliability are key to driving trust and adoption by operators. In October I moderated the panel “OPS Under Load” at DTF 2026 in Valletta, with colleagues from Nidec, KONČAR, EOPSA and Schneider Electric. (http://dtfconference.com) We discussed how, as these systems grow, failure risk shifts from isolated faults to system-wide vulnerabilities. Early warning, redundancy in critical components, predictive maintenance and a coordinated response between port, grid and ship are what keep vessels connected.

Shore power is not just a piece of equipment on the quay. It is critical infrastructure, and it deserves to be treated as such.