EU green light for port expansion

The European Parliament’s Committee on Petitions has declared that the Port of Valencia’s northern container terminal infrastructure complies with the European Union’s environmental legislation.

Specifically, the EP committee report stated that “the Commission has not been able to identify any indication of possible infringement of EU environmental legislation”.

This resolution is in addition to the report by Puertos del Estado which states that the project infrastructure does not require a new Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

The planned container terminal will minimise CO2 emissions by supplying electricity to cranes and yard machinery, and to container ships. The project presented by TIL/MSC to the port authority includes the electrification of 98% of the driving components and installations of the terminal; and in addition, 100% of the electricity will come from renewable sources, which in turn will imply a 98% reduction in CO2 emissions.

In its project, TIL makes an important commitment to intermodality and offers to develop a railway terminal equipped with six 1,000-metre-long tracks, with the capacity to move 305,000 TEUs/year by rail.