A port owner has highlighted the strides it has made over the last year in clean energy technology and innovation - including at its East Anglian ports.

Associated British Ports (ABP) - which owns 21 UK ports including at Lowestoft, King's Lynn and Ipswich - sets out its successes in its 2022 Annual Review published in July as it steered a course through a challenging period and moved towards clean energy.

The arrival of two £4m electric cranes at Ipswich and a £9m investment in a new fleet of nine pilot boats commissioned from a Norfolk-based boat builder are among the achievements highlighted in the report.

The Port of Ipswich saw the arrival of the UK’s first fully mains electric powered hydraulic Mantsinen cranes as it moves towards the full electrification of its cargo handling operations at the port over the next five years.

The year saw the arrival of three of the new fleet of nine pilot boats commissioned from Goodchild Marine Services, a Great Yarmouth boat builder. The faster and more fuel-efficient boats cut the port owner's energy consumption. At the same time, ABP has been investing in electric vehicles for its pilots at the Ports of Southampton, Barrow, Lowestoft and the Humber.

A £1.4m Dutch barn for timber in King’s Lynn was officially opened in December 2021 and named the Vancouver Timber Terminal in honour of Captain George Vancouver - one of the town’s most famous sons.

The port owner - which also owns the Port of Southampton - is working with energy giant EDF to deliver a maritime and rail-based supply chain from Lowestoft and Ipswich ports to support the construction of proposed nuclear power station Sizewell C.

In early 2022, Marine Management Organisation gave the green light to ABP’s £25m development of its Lowestoft Eastern Energy Facility (LEEF), which will enable the port "to support the future needs of the offshore energy industry and will have a profound, positive economic impact for the region", it said, as the East Anglian coast gears up for East Anglia ONE North and East Anglian TWO Offshore Wind Farms, as well as Norfolk Boreas and Vanguard.

Other milestones included the Port of King's Lynn successfully handling its first shipment of granite and record fertiliser volumes arriving at the Port of Ipswich.

ABP chief executive Henrik Pedersen said: “Our port operations continue to lead the industry thanks to our people and our continuous investments, such as upgrading our Humber container terminals, building new warehouses for our customers, and acquiring new cranes and port equipment, powered by biofuel, electricity, and a significant amount of solar power.

“In 2021, we invested over £150m in our ports, as we continue to embrace technological advances, such as launching the first private 5G network of any UK mainland port and being the first to install commercial shore power connectivity in the UK at our Port of Southampton.”

Maritime minister Robert Courts said it was "great" to see Associated British Ports secure's the UK maritime sector's green legacy.

“We’ve faced unprecedented challenges over the last few years and this annual review shows just how innovative the UK’s maritime sector is,2 he said.

“As we move towards net-zero emissions, I hope to see more industry leaders follow in their footsteps and strive towards a greener future.”

To date, ABP has invested more than £60m across its ports in electric/hybrid equipment and on-site solar arrays and wind turbines, which it said contributed to a reduction of over 35% carbon emissions in its port operations.