Sedat Baştuğ
Maritime Transportation and Management Engineering, Bandirma Onyedi Eylül University.
Ports in Europe are increasingly becoming experimental laboratories and strategic nodes in the continent’s energy transition. At the PACT COST Action Conference and Workshop (25-27.09.2025), held in Le Havre, researchers and practitioners discussed the legitimacy of EU involvement, the governance challenges posed by fragmented institutional arrangements, and the need for social acceptance of large-scale energy projects. From Paris to Rotterdam, Lisbon to Sofia, the discussions revealed both shared opportunities and diverse national trajectories. What emerged clearly is that energy transition in ports is not just a technical issue or a matter of infrastructures: it is also a political, social, and cultural challenge that touches on governance, democratic legitimacy, and the everyday lives of port communities.
Day 1
Governance Between Sea and Land
“In Paris, there is no governance between the quay walls”. With this intriguing observation, Carola Hein kicked off the conference by pointing out the institutional gaps that often exist between maritime and urban jurisdictions. She underlined that ports are not isolated entities but interfaces between sea and coasts, where conflicting interests play out. The proximity of ports to hydrogen production plants demonstrates this conflict. While central to Europe’s decarbonization strategies, they actually negatively affected recreational activities and public perceptions, in cases like Rotterdam and other major European ports.
Building on these insights, Athanasios A. Pallis explored how ports are increasingly seen as energy hubs rather than mere cargo-handling facilities. He linked this transformation to broader European strategies such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), blue growth initiatives, and the EU’s Green Deal. Pallis then pointed to the risks of fragmented governance in maritime spatial planning (MSP) and energy transition projects. For him, the question of democratic legitimacy is central: Who decides which energy infrastructures are built, and how can communities influence these decisions?
A contribution from Sweden added a theoretical layer to the discussion: what is the legitimacy of EU involvement in energy transition projects? The outcome of this discussion stressed the significance of theoretical approaches to understanding not only the mechanisms of governance, but also their societal implications. These discussions were underpinned by four key conceptual areas, ranging from the need to 'Reactivating Sea & Ocean Cultures' to using 'Geopolitical lenses' to understand the spatial-governance needs of the transition.
Energy Transition in Practice
Beyond theory, several speakers presented concrete examples of energy transition projects in European ports. One highlight was the demonstration of PVGIS, a tool / software that calculates solar radiation and energy potential. Applied to the port of Amsterdam, PVGIS could estimate monthly solar energy consumption, illustrating how data-driven tools can guide port authorities in planning renewable integration.
Being the host of several EU-funded projects in achieving a “hydrogen valley”, the Portuguese case provided another layer of insight.The presentation emphasized not only the technological aspects of hydrogen production but also the challenges: despite the absence of a formal market, renewable hydrogen is already treated as a commodity in local and European policy debates, raising questions about the sustainability of EU funding. Why should the EU continue to support projects if some are ultimately cancelled?
These discussions converged on the theme of social acceptability. The audience highlighted that societal acceptance is critical for building consensus around new infrastructures. Qualitative and quantitative methods are increasingly used to measure acceptance, but results show a gap between information provision and genuine public trust. Without trust, the projects may fail to gain traction.
Comparative National Case Studies
National case studies illustrated how energy transition is experienced differently across Europe. One case study from Italy underscored the need for textured readings (e.g. multi-layered and context-sensitive interpretations) of energy policies, arguing that energy transition projects cannot be understood in isolation and must be contextualized within specific spatial and historical frameworks.
Another case study traced Bulgaria’s industrial development from 1889 to the present, noting that the country remains locked in heavy industry due to infrastructure inherited from the socialist era. This “lock-in effect” constrains energy diversification and leads to weak public involvement in planning processes. As a result, pathways toward more flexible energy futures via investments in modernization, particularly the digitalization of port infrastructure, are hindered..
A further example focused on Lisbon's dramatic transformation after World War II. Designed increasingly around urban life, the city’s programs and plans now rely on statutory and strategic frameworks that involve multiple municipalities. Despite this goal of inter-municipal cooperation, tensions persist over land-use priorities and the dominance of hydrogen projects in national strategies.
Taken together, these case studies from multiple European countries showcased diversity of pathways that major projects take: historical trajectories, spatial contexts, and governance models shape how each port navigates the challenges of becoming an energy hub.
Social Acceptability and Smart Port Debates
The concept of the “smart port” was another recurring theme. Participants debated whether a smart port should be defined by technological capacity, data management, or community engagement. Rotterdam, with its scale and ability to handle big data, was often presented as a leading example. Yet smaller ports raised the question of whether EU funding trends are skewed toward giants, leaving less room for smaller scale experimentation.
Day 2
What does an inclusive energy transition ultimately look like in European port cities?
During the PACT COST Action workshop in Le Havre, researchers, practitioners, and stakeholders came together to explore this question. The second day was marked by the duality of decarbonization pathways: highly technical solutions on the one hand, and socially grounded initiatives on the other.
Decarbonization at Scale: Le Havre as a National Testbed
The morning began with Carola Hein’s framing that ports are laboratories for energy transition which must integrate social, technical, and spatial dimensions. Presentations from actors of Le Havre reinforced this point.
Florian Vaudois (AURH Le Havre) emphasized the urgency of reducing Le Havre’s 7.2 million tons of annual CO₂ emissions, representing 7% of France’s total. The city’s decarbonization program aims for net-zero by 2050, underlining the role of education, local initiatives, and state-backed projects such as ADEME.
Hervé Géraud (HAROPA PORT) showcased the RENAC Project, an onshore power supply (OPS) system for the cruise terminal. While OPS promises to drastically reduce noise and air pollution, questions remain about cost-sharing, energy sourcing (70% nuclear, 30% renewables and fossil), and long-term scalability.
These examples show that decarbonization is not merely a technological shift—it requires governance innovation, multi-scalar cooperation, and substantial investment.
Citizen-Led and Circular: Rethinking Economic Practices
According to the official conference report prepared by Ziya Ince, not all solutions came from technical infrastructures. Katy Miesiaczek demonstrated via the ‘Hangar 0’ initiative how citizen-led circular economy projects can be powerful. By transforming a 900 m² waterfront site with 33 reused containers, the project achieved zero waste, zero emissions, and zero hunger. This experiment shows how small-scale interventions can catalyze trust, communication, and inclusion in port cities. Similarly, Mélaine Dutertre (Le Havre Seine Métropole) highlighted the need for innovative workforce training. With 59% of local employees lacking formal diplomas, the city’s economic resilience depends on education and skills development. These projects underline the social fabric of energy transitions: technology alone cannot secure sustainability – inequality, skills, and community engagement need to be addressed simultaneously.
Beyond Le Havre: Lessons from Limassol and Lisbon
The Le Havre case was enriched by comparative perspectives from other port cities in the PACT network.
Limassol (Cyprus): PACT working group 1 presented survey results from Limassol that revealed the impact of climate change, drought, and water scarcity on port-city relations as well as public concerns about pollution and the pressure that tourism places on coastal infrastructure. By combining satellite imagery with the citizen surveys, the researchers showed how community perspectives can complement scientific data (see Figure 2).
- Lisbon (Portugal): Plans for a March 2026 PACT COST Action conference highlighted Lisbon’s unique historical development as a maritime hub and the city’s contemporary struggles to integrate port functions into urban life. The waterfront’s transformation into a living laboratory for energy transition showed how cultural heritage, tourism, and green infrastructure can intertwine.
Mapping Futures Differently: Counter-Mapping as a Tool
The workshop on day two also featured a summary of the PACT Counter-Mapping Challenge which took place in August 2025. Participants of this open and public challenge were encouraged to explore alternative ways of representing port city territories. Examples ranged from tidal flooding in Semarang (Indonesia) to fishways in Tokyo’s Tama River (Japan). A port not only functions as an industrial node, but as a living interface between ecological systems, logistics infrastructures, and community life.
These maps were not just technical diagrams; they were political tools. By incorporating local experiences, artistic interpretations, and critical reflections, counter-mapping questioned dominant narratives of port development. For energy transitions, this approach is vital: it shows that the future of port territories cannot be planned solely by experts, but must integrate multiple voices and visions.
PACT: Building a European Knowledge Infrastructure
Beyond the conference and workshop in Le Havre, the PACT network fosters comparative learning across pilot port cities. Reports from Limassol, Lisbon, and Hamburg revealed how climate risks, citizen engagement, and governance cultures vary but intersect around the same urgency: ports must lead in the energy transition.
Working groups provided insight into methodologies ranging from mapping theories and techniques to playbook designs for stakeholder ecosystems. Working group 3, in particular, reminded participants that transitions must be narrated in multiple languages and cultural contexts; energy is technical, social and symbolic.
Conclusion: Towards Inclusive Transitions
These two days of sessions underscored a fundamental point: energy transition is both a technical and a social process. Large-scale projects like OPS or decarbonization of industrial axes must be complemented by citizen-driven circular initiatives and workforce training. Ports, as gateways between water, city, and territory, embody both the challenges and opportunities of systemic change.
For European ports, the Le Havre case suggests that synergy across scales – global, national, and local – combined with inclusivity across communities – technical experts, policymakers, and citizens – offers the most promising pathway toward sustainable futures.
Acknowledgments
This blog post has been written in the context of discussions in the LDE PortCityFutures research community. It reflects the evolving thoughts of the author and expresses the discussions between researchers on the socio-economic, spatial, and cultural questions surrounding port city relationships. This blog was edited by the PortCityFutures editorial team: Eliane Schmid.
Special thanks also to the rapporteurs of the PACT COST Action, Conference and Workshop, Le Havre: Husam Husain, Ziya İnce and Sevim Sezi Karayazi. Their contributions greatly informed this work.
References
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Pallis, A. A., & Notteboom, T. (2022). Ports as energy hubs: Governance challenges in the age of transition. Maritime Policy & Management, 49(7), 945–960.
European Commission. (2023). FuelEU Maritime Regulation. Brussels: EU Publications.
Van der Lugt, L., Dooms, M., & Parola, F. (2017). Strategy making by hybrid organizations: The case of the port authority. Research in Transportation Business & Management, 22, 21–30.