Techno-economic and environmental analysis for the application of renewable energy sources in seaports

Ports have an indisputable effect on the decarbonization of urban areas, helping to minimize air and environmental pollution and achieve sustainable development. In this instance, it is crucial to do research that can advance our understanding of how to increase ports’ energy independence by utilizing renewable energy sources. The current study aims to study the environmental benefits and techno-economic challenges of converting three Egyptian ports to eco-friendly green ports by using solar panels, offshore wind turbines, and hydrogen fuel cells. The study shows that from a technical point of view, the required green power to be installed at Alexandria, Port Said, and Suez ports is around 13 MW, 5 MW, and 1.5 MW, respectively. Furthermore, the environmental analysis findings demonstrate that integrating green energy will significantly lower emissions in seaports. It is anticipated that the ports of Alexandria, Port Said, and Suez will achieve annual reductions in carbon dioxide emissions of roughly 68,7 k-tons, 25,8 k-tons, and 6,4 k-tons, respectively. From an economic point of view, the ports could be supplied with green energy from wind turbines for a cost of between 0.115 and 0.125 USD/kWh, while solar panels have a cost range of 0.098 to 0.129 USD/kWh. Additionally, hydrogen fuel cell systems cost about 0.102 USD/kWh. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2024.