Terminal selection

Not all ports will be equally suitable for installing OPS and the particular local situation should therefore be carefully reviewed.

Distance to local communities
As implementation of OPS will often involve significant investment, air quality modelling should be used to analyse whether and to what extent neighbouring communities indeed stand to benefit.

At the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach there is no buffer zone between the local community and the port, and drastic control measures may therefore be needed in the form of OPS. At the Port of Rotterdam, on the other hand, research has shown that installating OPS at the Euromax terminal at Maasvlakte 2 would not benefit local communities, as these are located outside the immediate region of air quality impacts. The greatest benefits are thus to be gained at terminals located close to built-up areas.

Terminal use and power consumption
Another selection criteria is terminal utilization. The more the terminal is used and the more power is consumed, the greater the environmental benefits will be. Vessels frequently calling at the port, with long port stays and high power consumption patterns provide the greatest scope for emissions reduction.