Client

Port of London Authority (PLA) has been managing the tidal Thames since 1909 and has responsibilities covering areas as broad as river traffic control, navigational safety, conservation and encouraging commercial and leisure use of the river. They have committed to halving their carbon emissions within five years, aiming for a 60% reduction by 2025 to achieve Net Zero by 2040.

Challenge

PLA wanted to identify the options available for the delivery of low carbon technologies across their sites and floating structures to enable future decarbonisation of their vessel fleet. This data would allow low carbon energy sources to be deployed to help meet their Net Zero requirements, eliminate emissions and increase energy resilience.

Our Solution

We started the project with a high-level assessment of 23 sites and assessed the sites for potential renewable energy opportunities such as solar and wind. For two sites, we carried out a detailed analysis to identify the local network constraints that may limit the deployment of generation technologies or potential battery deployment. We also analysed the authority’s floating assets which includes piers and jetties such as Barrier Gardens Pier and marine structures at Gravesend.

Key Outcomes

• Our analysis concluded that there was significant potential to develop solar PV assets and we also identified spare electrical capacity that could be used to charge electric vessels.
• The low carbon generation opportunities identified by this project will help PLA improve the environmental performance including air quality and support the UK’s climate change initiatives while lowering their reportable carbon emissions.
• Given the self-funding nature of the PLA, solutions were ranked to ensure they were cost effective in providing emissions reductions alongside bringing other benefits such as energy resilience and the reduction of exposure to fuel price rises.