Shore power management for green shipping under international river transportation

Greenhouse gas emissions in the shipping industry have been a major challenge in the sustainability of international transportation. This paper studied shore power management for river shipping, which has become increasingly popular in some international transport networks. We discussed stakeholders’ incentives and concerns regarding shore power and found that vessel owners play one of the dominant roles in the wide implementation of shore power. Then, a mathematical model is developed to show the advantages of shore power by combining it with an analysis of the optimal oil inventory plan for vessels. When the plan of the oil inventory on vessels is well designed, using shore power could be more beneficial than oil even if the shore power has a higher price than the latter because using shore power can provide the vessel with more options to improve the oil inventory plan by reducing oil consumption during berthing and the number of refueling. Sensitivity analyses are conducted to obtain a better understanding of the impact of the parameters on the performance of shore power. Our policy suggestions and findings can shed lights on how to make incentive policies for a wider and easier implementation of shore power under international shipping.