Text: Tarmo Ots, Policy Area Transport Coordinator

 

The Steering Group of Policy Area Transport had the first meeting of 2023 from 10-11 May in Gothenburg, Sweden. In addition to discussions about administrative issues and policy matters the group had an opportunity to have a dialogue with representatives of industry and visit port terminals and the premises of the production of electric planes.

The meeting of the Steering Group was arranged by the Swedish representative in the group, Mr. Lennart Andersson, and hosted by the Swedish Transport Administration. It was jointly agreed by Policy Area Coordinators and the Presidency of the group that the scope of the meeting should not be limited only to administrative matters. 

 

Steering Group members for the Policy Area Transport testing a model for a electric plane.

 

Electric passenger boats and planes

Sweden is a forerunner in developing transport technology and the opportunity to meet representatives of the sector gives an extra value for the meeting. Therefore, different quests from the industry and partner organisations were invited to join the meeting. 

The Stockholm-based electric boat building company Candela presented their vision of electric passenger boating service (commuters) in the Stockholm archipelago. Energy company Energikontor Syd AB introduced its survey of the use of biogas in the transport sector. 

In addition to this, members of the Steering Group had a chance to get familiarised with the masterplan of the onshore electricity supply (OPS) network to tankers in the Port of Gothenburg and to see the construction process of a 30-seat electric plane in the Heart Aviation company. Heart Avion believes that the plane will be certified and ready to fly by 2035. The main market niche for this type of aircraft is regional flights, therefore it is expected that these planes will find active use in the Baltic Sea region, for instance, connecting small islands with the mainland.