Work has begun on a £12 million project that will see Falmouth providing clean energy to a range of maritime vessels in a UK-first.

A&P Falmouth will become the first location in the country to offering flexible shoreside power connections to multiple users of the port, including cruise liners and other commercial vessels, alongside and in dry dock in Falmouth.

The docks company has been working with engineering design specialists Marine Zero on the project.

Now contractors Integrum Power Engineering will carry out the upgrade, which should not only reduce CO2 emissions but also lessen noise in the port.

Funding for it is coming from the Zero Emission Vessel and Infrastructure fund (ZEVI), with successful projects announced by the government last year.

Drystan Jones, port development director at A&P Falmouth, said: “This is a key milestone in the Zevi project and an exciting step towards delivering the installation of the new shore power system in Falmouth.

"Sustainable shore power plays a vital role in global and national efforts to reduce the impact of the maritime industry on the environment. Our strategy at A&P Falmouth is to achieve net zero across our operations by 2030.

“It was fantastic to invite the project teams, contractors, installation and delivery teams together to celebrate the beginning of such an important project.”

The launch was attended by representatives from the A&P project team, Marine Zero and Integrum Power Engineering (Image: A&P Falmouth) There are two elements to the work being carried out over the next six months.

The first will see an upgrade to the existing A&P Falmouth site’s high voltage distribution substations, with a full replacement of the aging infrastructure.

An extensive overlay of high voltage cables will also be installed, which will allow the site to offer increased shore power.

The second part of the work involves installing new high voltage connection points across the facility. for the shore power units.

A&P Falmouth is part of the APCL Group and provides vital ship repair, conversion and in-service support to commercial and defence vessel.

It is also a centre of excellence for ferries, mobilisation and demobilisation works, jack-ups, pontoons and tankers and MoD defence vessels.

David McGinley, CEO of APCL Group said: "A&P Falmouth and the wider APCL Group sustains 100 per cent of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary and also provides vital ship repair services to the Royal Navy.

“This shore power project will further the Ministry of Defence's commitment to reducing the impact of vessels on the environment and it is testament to the vital services we deliver and our reputation in the industry that we were chosen by UK Government to be one of the recipients of this funding.”

Attending the launch event to get work underway were representatives from the A&P project team, Marine Zero and Integrum Power Engineering.

Daniel Hill, operations manager of Integrum, said: "IPE is grateful for the trust placed in us to deliver this once-in-a-generation investment at the A&P Falmouth facility.

“Shore power solutions within the UK are very limited and present a number of challenges within the unique operating model of a ship repair facility.

“During this development stage of the project, having a full understanding of the onsite marine operations and engineering team has been crucial to ensure the correct solution is developed that is both buildable as a project and allows for simple and effective operation."

ZEVI is part of the UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emission (UK SHORE). It focused on clean maritime technologies that can be scaled rapidly to decarbonise the UK’s domestic maritime sector.