Sustainability through Electricity on the Rivers: Research Partnership between IHEID and IGRC
Basel, November 17 2023: The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID) based in Geneva has signed an agreement with the European River Cruise Association (IGRC) based in Basel, Switzerland, to identify the investment needs further to decarbonize the key docking locations along the European Rivers. The research, running over a total of 7 months, will map all rivers navigated by River Cruise vessels and identify which sites are still to be electrified to lend power to ships whilst docked. Many river stretches and forward-thinking cruise ports have already implemented and researched such a zero-emission approach to River Cruising. But never has a comprehensive study been done that ensures maximum sustainability impact by strategically mapping all sailing routes and traffic. The study's outcome should help cruise and port operators identify potential opportunities for decarbonization on their river journeys. A comprehensive mapping of funding and investment opportunities will enhance the study to ensure the theory can be implemented.
“The IGRC is in the name of their members involved on many fronts in efforts to make river cruises sustainable. One of the measures is the collaboration with the Graduate Institute Geneva, which is taking stock of existing research studies in the field of sustainability and decarbonization of shipping with its master students. The President of the IGRC signed the agreement on cooperation with the institute on November 8. This collaboration will begin in November 2023 and will be completed in June 2024.” says Daniel Thiriet, Vice President at IGRC.
The technology deployed has various names in the industry, such as shore-side electricity, cold-ironing or onshore power. Nevertheless, the technology functions as a plug-and-play device that connects a vessel to the local electricity grid, allowing for zero local emissions whilst at port.
The Fit for 55 Package, announced by the European Commission in 2021, includes several policies that embrace shoreside-electricity for ships at sea and in the Inland Waterways. As such, the Smart Mobility Strategy, Naiades III and AFIR are three significant decarbonization policies that stimulate such initiatives and ensure multimodal transport in Europe will decarbonize by 2050.
Project Lead - Institute De Hautes Etudes Internationales Et Du Developpement (IHEID): Alexa Popescu, Victoria Ceretti, Meyha Sharma – Academic Supervisor: Sandeep Sengupta
Project Participants – The European River Cruise Association (IGRC): Arno Reitsma, Ben Wirz, Daniel Buchmüller, Daniel Thiriet, Lucas Sandmeier, Sascha Gill, Marieke van der Meijden and the members of the IGRC
About the European River Cruise Association
In order to represent the diverse interests of river cruise shipping companies, an initially loosely organized Community of Interests IG RiverCruise, was founded in 2000 by three Swiss shipping companies. In the meantime, IG RiverCruise has become a registered association with headquarters in Basel and represents 365 ships (90 % of the European market).
As well as representing the members' common, fundamental interests and concerns relevant to river cruises towards third parties, IG RiverCruise sees itself simultaneously as a contact and representative of the European river cruise sector.
Other tasks include promoting and developing the image of the river cruise sector, taking into particular account the topics of training, safety and environmental protection and keeping in contact with organizations, institutions, umbrella associations, and associations closely related to the sector.
About the Graduate Institute of International and Development
The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (French: Institut de hautes études internationales et du développement, abbreviated IHEID), also known as the Geneva Graduate Institute, is a government-accredited postgraduate institution of higher education located in Geneva, Switzerland.
The institution counts one UN secretary-general (Kofi Annan), seven Nobel Prize recipients, one Pulitzer Prize winner, and numerous ambassadors, foreign ministers, and heads of state among its alumni and faculty. Founded by two senior League of Nations officials, the Graduate Institute maintains strong links with that international organisation's successor, the United Nations, and many alumni have gone on to work at U.N. agencies.