NatPower Marine and Hong Kong-based shipowner Wah Kwong Maritime Transport have set up a joint venture to roll out large-scale shore power and vessel charging infrastructure across Asia, reports Clean Shipping International.
Asian port electrification push
The new company, Wah Kwong NatPower, will start with projects in Hong Kong from 2026 before expanding into Greater China and North Asian markets. The aim is to cut emissions by allowing ships to plug into grid-connected electricity while alongside, powering onboard systems and charging batteries for near-shore propulsion.
The venture is backed by NatPower Group, a Luxembourg-headquartered renewables developer with a pipeline of more than 30 GW in clean energy projects worldwide. NatPower Marine is already investing £250m in UK port electrification and is targeting £10bn globally to deliver infrastructure at 120 ports by 2030.
Wah Kwong, one of Hong Kong’s longest-established shipowners, said the move builds on its strategy to diversify into LNG and renewable fuels while pushing decarbonisation.
Executive chairman Hing Chao described the partnership as bringing “the industrial logic, financial backing and technical certainty the region has been anticipating in marine electrification”.
The new JV will operate under a charge point operator model, funding, building and managing each site rather than relying on port authority investment. Each location will include substations, battery storage and grid interfaces to support both cold ironing and vessel charging.
NatPower Marine chief executive Stefano Sommadossi said Asia’s ports are becoming “the frontlines of climate action” and that the partnership would provide the reach and capability to deliver electrification at scale.
Greg McMillan, who sits on the JV board, said the move followed June’s launch of Venture Energy, another Wah Kwong-backed initiative in clean fuels.
By 2030, the partners aim to build a network of over 30 electrified ports in Asia, creating what they call the region’s first clean charging corridor for ships.
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Source: Clean Shipping International
