Ports as Power Plants: Inside the Maersk–CATL Alliance for Maritime Decarbonization - CleanTechnica

The article discusses a strategic partnership between Maersk, one of the world’s largest container shipping companies, and CATL, the world’s biggest battery manufacturer, aimed at decarbonizing maritime logistics, port operations, and supply chains. Signed on October 10, 2025, this collaboration builds on an earlier June agreement between CATL and Maersk’s terminal subsidiary, APM Terminals, to electrify port equipment and deploy advanced battery systems. The partnership leverages Maersk’s extensive control over global shipping infrastructure—including ports, vessels, trucks, and cranes—and CATL’s broad portfolio of lithium-based battery technologies to transform ports from carbon-intensive chokepoints into energy-efficient nodes. Ports represent a critical frontier for shipping’s energy transition because they concentrate numerous energy-intensive activities such as container cranes, yard tractors, refrigerated stacks, and ship hotel loads, which create peak electricity demands that existing grids struggle to handle. By installing large-scale battery storage systems, ports can smooth out these peaks