DP World Launches Latin America's First Shore Power System at Port of Callao

DP World has launched Latin America's first shore power system at its South Terminal in the Port of Callao, Peru, enabling ships to connect to 100 percent certified renewable electricity while docked instead of running auxiliary engines. The system is expected to avoid more than 6,300 tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions annually, averaging 30 tonnes per vessel call, and can supply up to 7.5 MVA to a vessel at berth, sufficient for the largest container ships calling at Callao at full load. The infrastructure was integrated into DP World's $400 million Bicentennial Pier expansion, part of the company's approximately $1 billion total investment in Peru.

 

Why Vessel Emissions at Berth Reveal Where the Next Decarbonisation Gap Lies

 

DP World identified vessel emissions while docked at berth as nearly twice as high as its own terminal operational emissions, a finding that reframed the company's decarbonisation priorities. That distinction matters because ports have historically focused emissions reduction efforts primarily on their own directly controlled operations, cranes, vehicles and terminal equipment, since those emissions fall entirely within a port operator's own Scope 1 and Scope 2 accounting and operational control. Vessel emissions at berth, by contrast, come from ships owned and operated by shipping lines, not the port itself, meaning reducing those emissions has traditionally required a port operator to provide infrastructure enabling a customer's equipment to reduce its own emissions, rather than simply modifying the port's own equipment directly.

Shore power addresses that gap specifically by giving docked vessels an alternative to running diesel-powered auxiliary engines purely to generate onboard electricity while cargo is loaded and unloaded, a function auxiliary engines perform even though the ship itself isn't moving. Connecting to shore-based electricity instead eliminates that specific emissions source entirely for the duration a vessel remains docked and connected.

 

Why the 80% Vessel Compatibility Figure Matters More Than the Infrastructure Alone

 

Building shore power infrastructure only delivers actual emissions reductions if vessels calling at the terminal are physically equipped to use it, a technical compatibility requirement not every ship in the global fleet currently meets. The fact that approximately 80 percent of vessels calling Pier 3 are already equipped to use shore power is a significant detail distinct from the infrastructure investment itself, since it means the majority of the terminal's existing vessel traffic can begin using the system immediately rather than requiring a slower, multi-year fleet retrofit cycle before the infrastructure delivers meaningful real-world benefit.

That high existing compatibility rate suggests either that shipping lines serving this particular route have already invested in shore power-compatible vessels in anticipation of infrastructure like this becoming available, or that modern container vessels increasingly include shore power compatibility as a standard design feature regardless of whether a given port currently offers the service. Four of the seven weekly vessels serving the Peru-Asia trade route are initially expected to connect, with the CMA CGM PLATINUM, a 13,100-TEU vessel built in 2025, becoming the first ship to use the system.

 

UPCOMING WEBINAR

AI academy: Two real ESG workflows saving days of manual work

Online, 03 September 2026 · Turning days of emissions data work into minutes with audit-ready AI workflows

 

Why Callao's Position Among the Global 3% Matters Competitively

 

According to a June 2026 DNV white paper cited in the release, only around 3 percent of ports worldwide currently offer shore power, placing Callao among a small global group with this capability. That scarcity gives Callao's shore power system a genuine competitive differentiation function beyond its environmental benefit alone, since shipping lines increasingly face their own pressure to reduce Scope 1 emissions from vessel operations, and a port offering shore power gives those shipping lines a concrete mechanism to reduce emissions specifically while their vessels are calling at that particular terminal, a capability most competing ports globally cannot currently offer.

Peru's President Keiko Fujimori explicitly tied that scarcity to national positioning, stating the country is "proud that Peru is part of this group, serving as an example of environmental protection and modernization." That framing, delivered by the country's head of state rather than solely company executives, signals this infrastructure investment carries genuine diplomatic and economic development significance for Peru beyond its function as a private corporate decarbonisation initiative, positioning the country's port infrastructure as internationally competitive on environmental capability specifically.

 

What the Broader $105 Million Decarbonisation Programme Reveals

 

Beyond shore power, DP World has invested $105 million in a broader Callao decarbonisation programme including 36 electric internal transfer vehicles, Latin America's first dedicated port electric vehicle charging station, and electrification of nearly the terminal's entire yard crane fleet. Peru's Minister of Transport and Communications Rafael Rey Rey explained the shore power system allows compatible ships to shut down their auxiliary engines, reducing fossil fuel consumption and pollutant emissions while also lowering the noise levels associated with port operations.

DP World Peru, Ecuador and Colombia chief executive Carlos Merino said shore power represents "the next step in our decarbonization journey," noting the company has "transformed our own terminal operations through electrification and renewable energy" and is now "extending those benefits to our customers by helping vessels reduce emissions while at berth." Combined, these initiatives are intended to put Callao on track to reduce its Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 90 percent by 2030, part of DP World's broader global ambition to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, with Callao being the company's third global terminal to offer shore power after Prince Rupert and Vancouver in Canada.

 

Source: DP World