Truck and Track Winter 2023 www.truckandtrack.com 78 PORTS In preparation for a dynamic and productive 2024, Associated British Ports (ABP), the UK’s largest port operator, has welcomed commercial and property expert Lex Hanham to its Business Development team, where she will be spearheading projects to accelerate the UK’s clean energy transition. Having originally joined ABP as a Graduate Management Trainee in Southampton, Lex has more than 15 years’ experience at the organisation. She has successfully delivered projects across a wide range of business functions, from operations to property management and from project management to commercial. Ralph Windeatt, ABP Head of Business Development, commented: “I am delighted to welcome Lex to the team. She brings with her a wealth of knowledge, skills and insight from her hugely successful time in Southampton and she joins at an exciting time for the development of our pipeline. I am confident the experience she brings from her time in the ports industry will strongly benefit existing and future customers in this role.” Reflecting on the news, Lex said: “I find joy in the pursuit of possibilities; the satisfaction of turning opportunity into reality and forging connections and lasting partnerships with customers. I am excited to be a part of the team sculpting a future for our ports defined by growth and innovation. “Transitioning from the core port business to the dynamic realm of alternative energy is not just a shift in focus; it’s a leap into a future sector where success is measured not just in profits but in the positive change we catalyze for generations to come. I look forward to being a part of the fusion of business acumen and environmental stewardship, where every strategic move echoes a commitment to a greener, more sustainable world.’’ With projects such as Immingham Green Energy Terminal (IGET) under way, the past years have reinvigorated public interest in ports’ role as enablers of net zero. This facility will use CO2 shipping to deliver decarbonisation without risking deindustrialisation and will create a cleaner, greener and more prosperous future for the UK. This focus on sustainable solutions has been amplified by ABP’s sustainability strategy, ‘Ready for Tomorrow’, which sets out the company’s plans to invest £2 billion in decarbonising its own operations by 2040 as well as enabling the wider UK energy transition through large-scale clean energy infrastructure projects. A salient example of a project in the pipeline includes the Viking CCS on the Humber, which has secured Track 2 status in the Government’s cluster sequencing process. This is an important step towards attaining an economic licence for the permanent storage of CO2 in the Viking fields. The project will reuse existing pipelines and decommissioned gas fields to provide a very cost-competitive solution for storage of CO2 emissions. Once complete, Viking CCS will have the capability to store up to 10 million tonnes of CO2 per year by 2030, rising to 15 million tonnes per year by 2035. This can make a significant contribution to the UK’s sixth carbon budget. The project also has the potential to unlock £7 billion of private investment for the Humber region across the CCS value chain. This will bring significant benefits to the local community and the UK overall, including the potential creation of up to 10,000 new, good quality jobs during construction and a contribution of £4 billion of GVA to the economy. Following last week’s historic announcement about the use of the first Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) transatlantic flight, ABP is proud to be part of this journey with a major SAF plant from LanzaTech planned for our Port Talbot site, part of a new green hub to include floating offshore wind (FLOW), hydrogen, carbon capture, cleaner steel and low-carbon logistics. New ABP Business Development Manager to accelerate port-based clean energy projects Peel Ports Group is to extend its steel and metals terminal in response to strong growth in customer demand at the Port of Liverpool. The UK’s second largest port operator began construction of the 20,000 sq ft extended warehouse at its North 3 Canada Dock earlier this year. The group’s investment comes as the Port of Liverpool enjoyed one of its busiest months for steel volumes in September, with more than 75,000 tonnes handled by staff across the port and Birkenhead Docks. It is the port’s busiest month for steel in more than two years, when 93,000 tonnes were handled at the site in July 2021. An initial 8,000 sq ft of the newly created warehouse space is already in use, with a second phase of construction work to build an extra 12,000 sq ft of the terminal ongoing. Phil Hall, Mersey Ports Director at Peel Ports Group, said: “We’re really pleased to have seen such an increase in demand for steel handling at our port in recent months. “This positive news led to us choosing to increase the size of our facility, which offers customers the chance to expand their capacity, as well as improving our handling facilities at the port. “Given the benefits of the Port of Liverpool’s central location, and its proximity to UK manufacturing sites, we believe this will be a very important and worthwhile investment.” The site now has 280,000 sq ft of internal storage, as well as 100,000 sq ft of external footage. It also has a total throughput capacity of in excess of 600,000 tonnes annually. The facility was once the UK’s first fully-automated steel terminal following a £9m upgrade in 2016. Real time stock availability, precision coil selection and a vehicle booking system has minimised back office processing and paperwork, handling, as well as haulier turn-around time since its completion. Peel Ports Group extends steel terminal to deal with growth in demand Lex Hanham TRUCK & TRAILER SOLUTIONS WELCOME TOALLPORTS GROUP allportsgroup.co.uk
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTE1MTA=