PROJECTS
A LIVING LABORATORY OF GREEN TECHNOLOGY In this article, Sophie Peachey, head of customer success at IOTICS, explains how digital twin technology at one port is helping shape a greener maritime future
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With the use of new technology, digital twins are revolutionising the way ports make decisions, offering value in operational efficiency, managing data, and preventing dangerous situations from arising 14 | AUTUMN 2021
and academia, including Portsmouth International Port, Lloyd’s Register, Engas, IOTICS, B4T, KnowNow, COX, University of Brighton and the Connected Places Catapult.
8 Portsmouth is committed to becoming the first carbon-neutral UK port by
Digital twinning As part of the project, at IOTICS we are creating a digital twin of Portsmouth International Port – in effect, an interoperable virtual version of the port including its data, controls and interactions. Digital twining is an exciting, fast emerging technology that can be applied across different use cases. We will be using digital twins to look at the business benefits of deploying renewable and clean fuels, as well as the logistics of refuelling onshore equipment and sea-going vessels in a busy port. We’ll also be setting up the foundations of ways to look at the environmental impacts of switching to clean fuel sources.
8 Sophie Peachey, head of customer success at IOTICS
Photo: IOTICS
SHAPE UK With this drive to deliver maritime sustainability, it’s no surprise that Portsmouth is playing a leading role in a new £1.5million Shipping, Hydrogen & Port Ecosystems UK (SHAPE UK) project, funded by the Department for Transport and delivered in partnership with Innovate UK. SHAPE UK is part of the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition and represents a milestone in the move to innovative low-cost green hydrogen generation and storage systems that will bring significant reduction in carbon emissions and air pollution in and around Portsmouth and other UK ports. Announced in March 2020 and part of the Prime Minister’s Ten Point Plan to position the UK at the forefront of green shipbuilding and maritime technology, the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition is a £20m investment from the government alongside a further circa £10m from industry to reduce emissions from the maritime sector. The programme is helping to fund 55 projects across the UK to support the research, design and development of zero emission technology and infrastructure solutions for maritime and to accelerate decarbonisation in the sector. The SHAPE UK project is led by the University of Portsmouth and brings together a wide range of expertise from industry
Photo: PiP
Portsmouth International Port is the UK’s largest municipal port. Operated and owned by Portsmouth City Council, it is one of the sites of the new Solent Freeport and responsible for handling millions of customers and vital cargo across the globe. With easy access to both the UK motorway system and major shipping lanes, Portsmouth International Port is ideally placed for ferries, cruise and freight. Over the past decade, the port has also been gradually turned into a living laboratory of green technology. Not only does it have one of the most sustainable terminal buildings in the UK, but it is also at the forefront of renewable energy and battery research. For example, a machine learning controlled lithium/lead storage battery will complement a rollout of solar and wind power generating capacity across the port. Portsmouth is committed to becoming the first carbonneutral UK port by 2030 and the first zero-emission port by 2050. These plans, which aim to improve air quality and their carbon footprint, have been put together with the government’s Maritime 2050 strategy in mind.
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