Archives par mot-clé : strategy

Putting into practice the concept of “Energy manager”: Port of Antwerp’s green strategy

As every European seaport, the Port of Antwerp (PoA) is more and more concerned by environmental issues.

So as to take into account this element into its day-to-day activity, the Port Authority of Antwerp has decided to consider sustainability as a proper component of its strategy. In that vein, PoA namely published a Sustainability report in 2012.

This commitment has been fruitful since PoA received the Flemish Institute for Logistics’s (VIL) Lean and Green Award in December 2013, as announced last January by the port itself. This award recognizes PoA’s commitment to reduce its CO2 emissions from its logistics activities by 20% over a period of 5 years.

One has to mention that besides this plan, the port authority, chose to impulse a common dynamic in this way by informing other companies in the port and inviting them to follow the Lean and Green program.

Hence, PoA can be seen as a green port and an energy manager as defined by ACCIARO, GHIARA, and CUSANO (ACCIARO et al., 2013) down below:

“Port authorities are therefore starting to develop active plans aiming at reducing or optimising their energy processes. These plans by necessity include port operators and port users, but also energy grid managers and local community managers. The energy networks within the port become more complex, and port authorities are becoming a conscious player that needs to address environmental concerns, energy efficiency and sustainability proactively.

A suitable definition of the port authority as an energy manager refers then to its role in planning, regulating and monitoring energy use within the port. In this function the port authority aims to improve energy efficiency by evaluating energy use and implementing new policies and changes where necessary.

The port authority as an energy manager coordinates all aspects of energy management, from energy efficiency and reduction of the carbon footprint of the port to waste management and sustainable development by:

  1. Encouraging the use of renewable/sustainable energy resources within an organisation or community
  2. Deriving solutions for carbon management
  3. Raising the profile of energy conservation.[1]

The first results of Antwerp’s plan are expected in 2015.

To be continued, then!


[1] ACCIARO et al., 2013, The role of ports as an energy manager, IAME 2013 Conference, Marseille, France, 24 pages. Pp.7-8.