Incheon Port Authority, First in Korea to Obtain Greenhouse Gas Reduction Certification in the Shipping Sector

Incheon Port Authority (IPA) announced on the 13th that it has become the first in Korea to receive greenhouse gas reduction performance certification from the Ministry of Environment in the port and ship sectors.

IPA reduced greenhouse gas emissions by changing the power supply method of the Incheon Port pilot boat "Econuriho" from the existing diesel auxiliary generator to the onshore power supply facility (AMP).

The certified greenhouse gas reduction performance amounts to 1478 tCO2eq (carbon dioxide equivalent), retroactively applied to the reduction volume from April 2013 to October 2021.

IPA will submit monitoring reports annually to the Ministry of Environment to secure carbon emission rights worth approximately 192 tCO2eq per year, and it is also possible to generate new revenue through emission trading.

According to IPA, Econuriho, Asia's first LNG-fueled ship, reduces greenhouse gases emitted from the ship by using electricity from Korea Electric Power Corporation instead of a diesel generator, and the reduced amount has been certified through external projects.

External projects are those that reduce, absorb, or remove greenhouse gases in accordance with international standards from greenhouse gas emission facilities or emission activities.

Asia's first LNG-fueled vessel, the Incheon Port pilot boat 'Econuri'
[Photo by Incheon Port Authority]

In June 2019, IPA signed a business agreement with KEPCO Incheon Headquarters to promote the project of converting ship fuel power generation to onshore power supply, and in October 2020, proceeded with the development and registration of a new methodology according to the domestic external project greenhouse gas reduction certification procedure. Subsequently, in August last year, the business plan was approved, and in June this year, after the monitoring report verification process, the greenhouse gas reduction performance was certified.

An IPA official stated, "The achievement of being the first in the port and ship sector to receive certification from methodology development to reduction volume certification is an excellent result that can serve as a model for other domestic ports," and added, "Based on the know-how accumulated over the past four years, we will continue to discover projects for carbon reduction with stakeholders of Incheon Port and take the lead in realizing carbon neutrality."

Meanwhile, in addition to the AMP project, IPA is also pursuing the acquisition of carbon emission rights through the "power supply project using renewable energy and Energy Storage System (ESS)." The methodology development and registration were completed in September last year, and the project plan is currently being prepared for business approval.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.