he Ports of Stockholm, the group owned by the city of Stockholm responsible for managing its ports, will build six new rooftop solar cells at its facilities in the city, adding 550MWh of power generation to the ports.
While the group did not announce how much money it would spend on the project, it did note that the “investment decision” will see construction begin in the first half of 2024, and the cells will be operational by the summer of next year.
“Ports of Stockholm’s investment in solar electricity is fully aligned with our environmental goals,” said Jens Holm, chair of the board of Ports of Stockholm. “This decision means that in future almost one-tenth of the electricity we use will be generated by our own solar cell systems.”
The ports currently produce 995MWh from 3,416 individual solar panels spread over five installations at five different ports, the largest installation of which are the 1,610 panels at the Stockholm Norvik Port, which is responsible for more than half of the ports’ solar capacity. The six new installations will be built at the Port of Kapellsk?r and Frihamnen and V?rtahamnen ports, which already produce 310MWh of solar power per year.
The new installations will bring the ports’ total power output to around 1.5GW per year, and are the latest clean power commitment made by the Ports of Stockholm.
The group has already announced plans to eliminate all of its greenhouse gas emissions by 2040, and to eliminate its carbon dioxide emissions from truck operations by 2025, down from 330 tons reported in 2020. Regarding solar power in particular, the Ports aim to increase the proportion of solar energy in its power mix to 50% by 2026, and, should the latest solar installations come online without issue, it expects to reach this goal by 2024.
In a press release, the group also noted that the project will leave the ports “less dependent on external electricity suppliers”， as it looks to both decarbonise its energy mix and secure its access to power in the long-term.
The news follows the announcement of plans to build a 1.9GW renewables pipeline in Sweden, with stakeholders in the country eager to invest in renewables.
