Port Electrification: Definitions, Pathways, and Grid Impact Assessment

Abstract Ports are increasingly central to decarbonization strategies, but port electrification is defined inconsistently across academic and policy literature. This ambiguity matters because different definitions imply different electricity-demand profiles, peak loads, connection requirements, and grid-upgrade needs. We examine how port-electrification pathways emerge under different combinations of contextual dynamics, policy signals and technological development, and how these differences matter for grid planning. Organizing the literature around electricity end use and the location of port activity, we identify three pathways – electrification at berth, electrification of terminal operations and electricity-based fuel supply in ports – ordered analytically by an expanding system boundary. Each pathway is mapped through a structured Scopus search supplemented by policy and technical reports. The comparison reveals uneven evidence maturity: shore-power research is relatively well grounded in port-specific operations, whereas terminal electrification and Power-to-X studies more often draw on fragmented evidence or developments beyond the port sector. The pathways also exhibit distinct policy dynamics. Shore power has evolved through interactions among technological development, local air-quality measures and increasingly binding infrastructure requirements; terminal electrification remains shaped largely by domestic regulation, port initiatives and equipment investment; and port-based Power-to-X is embedded in broader energy, industrial and geopolitical policy agendas. Correspondingly, the principal grid-planning problem shifts from managing coincident high-power vessel connections, to coordinating spatially distributed terminal loads, and ultimately to securing large-scale interconnection capacity for fuel production. When pathways are deployed together, however, they may share connection capacity, create coincident demand and provide complementary flexibility through managed charging, storage and schedulable electrolysis. By connecting the scope of port electrification to its policy, operational and grid-planning consequences, the review provides a structured basis for scenario design, coordinated port–grid planning and future research on integrated port energy transitions.