Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what support his Department has provided to Portsmouth International Port to help it meet carbon neutral targets.

The Department for Transport awarded £1,277,626 to the SHAPE UK project as part of the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition Round 1. The project was led by the University of Portsmouth and included Portsmouth International Port. It successfully delivered a demonstration project between September 2021 – March 2022.

In February 2023, the Department launched the Zero Emission Vessels and Infrastructure (ZEVI) competition, which will award £77m of match funding to support close to commercial clean maritime solutions. We would welcome Portsmouth International Port to bid into the competition, which closes on 19 April 2023. The Department for Transport also engages directly with the sector, including the Port, as part of wider maritime decarbonisation policy work.