On the 18th of March 2025 a Dutch expert meeting SPIES (Shore Power in European Shipping) was held in the city of Den Bosch.
During this expert meeting a number of keynote Shore Power speakers held several interesting presentations for a select audience.
All the Dutch relevant stakeholders were represented, such as the Dutch Association of Inland Ports the so called "NVB" (Nederlandse Vereniging van Binnenhavens), representatives of several Dutch Inland Ports (Port of Rotterdam, North Sea Port, Port of Twente, ROC Waalwijk, etc.) and representatives of the national Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management (Rijkswaterstaat) and several provincial and local governments (Gelderland, Noord-Brabant, Limburg, Venlo, Bergen op Zoom, etc.).
The consequences of the European obligation (AFIR), to install shore based power facilities in European inland ports, were discussed. Other important and relevant topics were discussed such as for instance the first results of the SPIES enquiry, which was held in the 5 participating member states: Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, France and Denmark.
During the meeting, there was an interactive discussion about the main challenges and bottlenecks related to shore based power.
The results of the Dutch expert meeting will be used in the policy recommendation plan.