The head of Strategic Planning and Innovation of the PAV, Juan Manuel Díez Orejas, has participated in the Conference on Public Procurement organised by the European Commission.

He explained that “all the infrastructures in their different phases of planning, tendering, construction and operation are subject to rigorous environmental control and monitoring because we want to be a reference as sustainable ports in line with our commitment to 2030, zero emissions”.

The new north container terminal and passenger terminal, examples of state-of-the-art sustainable infrastructures to meet global challenges.

“The port infrastructures being developed by Valenciaport combine sustainability with growth. This is the case of the north container terminal and the public passenger terminal, two examples of public-private collaboration of state-of-the-art sustainable actions to face global challenges”, explained Juan Manuel Díez Orejas, head of Strategic Planning and Innovation of the Port Authority of Valencia (PAV).

Díez Orejas participated in the High Level Conference on Public Procurement, organised with the European Commission under the presidency of Portugal, where he assured that “in Valenciaport all infrastructures, in their different phases of planning, tendering, construction and operational, are subject to rigorous environmental control and monitoring because we want to be a benchmark as sustainable ports and fulfil our commitment to 2030, zero emissions”.

This Conference is the key event on public procurement that will take place at European level during the first half of 2021. Under the theme “Leading the Future: Green, Sustainable and Digital Public Procurement”, the conference will address the challenges faced at European level in terms of green and sustainable public procurement and the importance of digital transformation. The head of Strategic Planning and Innovation of the PAV has participated in the round table: “Green and sustainable public investment in the post COVID-19 crisis period” together with Katharina Knapton-Vierlich, Acting Head of Public Procurement Unit, DG GROWN European Commission; Wim Holleman, Advisor, Netherlands Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Managament; and Vicent Gaillard, CFO at Société du Grand Paris.

During his speech, the head of the PAV explained the four stages of control in the development of port infrastructures: in the planning phase with compliance with the requirements of the framework of the Environmental Impact Statement, in the tendering phase where the environmental requirements for the private investor are included. In the construction phase, the PAV promotes “green purchasing” in accordance with Valenciaport’s EMAS certificate, while during operation, best environmental practices are promoted (including environmental certifications and global cooperation within the ECOPORT Valencia scheme).

In his presentation, he highlighted two of Valenciaport’s sustainability and growth strategies. On the one hand, the new north container terminal, which will be the most environmentally advanced in the world, as it will minimise CO2 emissions by supplying electricity to ships, it will contemplate the use of electric machinery and hydrogen, the origin of energy will be 100% from renewable sources, the use of artificial intelligence to increase efficiency, the reduction of 98% of current CO2 emissions and rail intermodality.

On the other hand, the new passenger terminal of the Port of Valencia has been designed to ensure that 100% of the energy required is produced in the facilities themselves and is of renewable origin. In addition, it will be committed to the circular economy and the berths will be equipped with an electricity supply network for docked ships.