On Friday the 29th of May Groningen Seaports and Niedersachsen Ports have signed a Letter of Intent on cross border cooperation to develop an LNG infrastructure in the Eems-Dollard region. The introduction of LNG as a clean, future oriented fuel will ensure a perfect balance between ecology and economy. It will benefit the environment and the World Heritage site the Wadden Sea.

The signing was overseen by Maroš Šefčovič –  Vice-President of the European Commission and responsible for the European Energy Union. He is visiting the Energy Valley region as part of his Energy Union on Tour.

Sustainable development
Both ports look at sustainable port development, a responsible use of scarce resources, reduce emissions on land and at sea , as well as long-term-oriented port management. To achieve this the harbours wish to:
– combine our efforts to support shipowners and suppliers of infrastruc-ture and fuels in their transition to LNG
– establish cross border alliances for development of LNG infrastructure
– operate as one cross border port area towards European institutions

Future oriented
With the cooperation the harbours wish to contribute to accelerated use of LNG as robust and future oriented fuel for transport in the segments of short sea shipping, passenger shipping, inland shipping and heavy road transport.