{"id":3771,"date":"2026-08-03T07:53:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T06:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/portstrategy.nfdtesting.uk\/greenport-congress\/2026\/08\/03\/national-grid-will-detail-the-constraints-and-challenges-facing-ports\/"},"modified":"2026-08-03T07:53:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T06:53:00","slug":"national-grid-will-detail-the-constraints-and-challenges-facing-ports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/news\/news\/national-grid-will-detail-the-constraints-and-challenges-facing-ports\/","title":{"rendered":"National Grid will detail the constraints and challenges facing ports"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As host of GreenPort Congress 2026, Portsmouth International Port\u2019s pioneering shore power (OPS) journey is set to be a major focus of the conference, taking place from 7-9 October.<\/p>\n<p>The opening day\u2019s Session on <em>Energy, electrification &amp; net zero delivery in ports<\/em> will hear first hand from some of the key players behind the Sea Change project which went live on 24 July.<\/p>\n<p>Of equal interest to many of the GreenPort Congress delegates gathered in Portsmouth, the session will also hear from Andrew Connolly of the UK\u2019s National Grid who will address the grid constraints and challenges faced by the many other ports on the Onshore Power Supply (OPS) road.<\/p>\n<p>As Project Director for the National Grid\u2019s Static Wound Plant Portfolio Team, Connolly has over 35 years\u2019 experience in the electricity supply industry and currently leads the Static Wound Equipment (SWE) portfolio, covering international procurement from South Korean and European suppliers, manufacturing oversight, supply chain logistics and delivery of the largest and most critical assets used on the UK\u2019s electricity transmission network.<\/p>\n<p>These include power transformers, shunt reactors and other major plant, all fundamental to expanding the transmission system to meet net zero targets and often among the most complex components in major infrastructure projects.<\/p>\n<p>Connolly is currently establishing a new organisation focused on the management, supply chain resilience, and delivery of Strategic Works Equipment, supporting National Grid\u2019s unprecedented investment programme over the next decade. The current five-year period alone includes approximately \u00a340 bn of transmission construction activity, with most projects dependent on the delivery of these critical assets.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Portsmouth International Port\u2019s OPS system now has ferries and cruise ships plugging in as it strives to become the country\u2019s first zero-emissions port by 2050. With the UK\u2019s first multi-berth, multi-user, multi-frequency shore power system, ships can now plug into clean electricity and turn off their engines while alongside, helping to improve the city\u2019s air quality. Those with batteries will also be able to enter and exit the harbour under electric power.<\/p>\n<p>As well as improving air quality for local residents, the system is projected to help avoid emissions of around 20,000 tonnes of CO2e from 2027.<\/p>\n<p>See provisional programme <a class=\"button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/the-conference\/conference-programme-full\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here<\/a>&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/the-conference\/conference-programme-full\"><br \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"button\" href=\"\/greenport-congress\/book\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Book now<\/a> for 20% off the full delegate rate with GPCEARLY or contact the team at <a href=\"mailto:sales@greenportcongress.com\">sales@greenportcongress.com<\/a>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Andrew Connolly will join the energy and electrification panel at GreenPort Congress<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,111,39],"tags":[224,221,223,222],"sponsor":[],"class_list":["post-3771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-greenport-congress-greenport","category-news","category-news-greenport-congress","tag-green-ports","tag-greenport-congress","tag-port-sustainability","tag-portsmouth-international-port"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3771"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3771\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3771"},{"taxonomy":"sponsor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sponsor?post=3771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}