Port Southampton England will be the UK's first to introduce shoreside power connectivity for cruise vessels. ABP (Associated British Ports) announced it would install the new technology in 2020 but added it had not yet resolved "issues over funding and a potential drain on the National Grid."
During a recent visit to Port Southampton, UK's prime minister Boris Johnson said he was "very interested" in shore power (aka "cold ironing") as a means of limiting pollution from ships.
Shipping is forecast to emit between 2%-6% of nitrogen dioxide emissions in the city, ABP's Port Air Quality Strategy revealed in 2018. However, a report to Southampton councilors in January 2019 announced that shore power "demonstrated no discernible benefit to nitrogen dioxide concentrations at EU relevant locations". This report added shore power could nevertheless deliver unspecified "public health benefits".
In January 2019, the council applied for a government grant to fund a GBP 7 million shoreside power scheme. However, the bid was rejected due to concerns over "insufficient benefits and speed of delivery," the authority said.