Portsmouth politicians rally to save port's carbon-neutral goal - threatened by energy company SSE's 'administrative error'

The Liberal Democrat leader of Portsmouth City Council, Cllr Gerald Vernon-Jackson, Labour MP Stephen Morgan MP and Conservative MP Penny Mordaunt have sent a letter to the secretary of state for business, Grant Shapps MP, calling for an urgent meeting on the issue.

The port is looking to create a ‘shore power’ project that will allow ships to charge while they are alongside – meaning they can cut their engine and reduce air pollution.

The cost to provide power to the dock gate will be £3m – which the city council is trying to identify - and will be payable to SSE.

This summer saw the city bid for the energy firm to allocate additional capacity – but the bid stalled due an administrative error from the energy company, according to the joint letter.

Now another infrastructure capacity could snatch up the needed capacity, which would not become available again in time for the port to meet its 2030 target for becoming carbon neutral.

In the letter, the politicians said: ‘There is now a current round of bidding for capacity, and we understand that Portsmouth Port is second on the list.

‘The people ahead of us in the queue are likely to stick to the capacity that they have been offered, and SSE have told us that they will have no additional capacity to offer us in the area until 2030.

‘This will mean that there is no chance of getting shore power to the port of Portsmouth before 2030 and that kills the chance of the port becoming carbon neutral by that date. It would also mean that air quality could not be improved by a reduction of pollutants generated by ships moored at the port.’

Council leader Gerald Vernon-Jackson blasted the process as ‘absolutely ludicrous’

He said: ‘We have firms like Brittany Ferries building ferries that can plug-in when they’re alongside.

‘Portsmouth is trying to be the first carbon neutral port in the country and yet they are saying they wont have electricity available for another eight years.’

The letter has called for a meeting between city politicians, the government, and SSE.