Dredging of the north arm was raised by Deputy Premier Paul Toole on a January 30 visit to Newcastle, but with no explanation as to why that part of the river - which is not part of the regular David Allan maintenance schedule - would be considered.

But the Port of Newcastle's chief of commercial officer, Simon Byrnes, told the opening day of the inaugural GreenPort Congress Oceania at Wests Newcastle yesterday that the port was talking with a number of commercial operators about various renewable power projects, including the possibility of an offshore wind construction and maintenance facility on Kooragang.

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The proposed Oceanex 130-turbine offshore wind farm would need facilities in the port, and there have been other uses suggested for vacant land on Walsh Point over the years.

Development would mean dredging the north arm downstream of Stockton Bridge, where the water is much shallower than the south arm accessing the container terminal site on one side and the Kooragang coal loaders on the other.

The conference also heard how cruise ships visiting Newcastle are the pollution equivalent of 10,000 cars, during a session on a global push to install wharfside 'green' electricity to replace the shipboard diesel generators used at the moment.

"In the eight hours that a cruise ship is berthed at harbour, it emits as much nitrous oxide as 10,000 cars do over the same time, and emits as much particulate matter as 6000 cars travelling a distance of 1000 kilometres," Carnival Australia executive Teresa Llloyd told the 160 or so delegates.

Cargo ships are similarly polluting, and by number account for most of the world's shipping pollution.

In his opening remarks to the three-day conference, Port of Newcastle CEO Craig Carmody said the coal-dominant port was working hard to diversify and had a target of 50 per cent non-coal revenue by the end of the decade.

Mr Carmody was one of a number of speakers to stress the growing importance of "environmental, social and governance" or ESG strategies, in a world where the public was demanding meaningful progress to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Manfred Libmeier told the conference by audio link from Hamburg Port Authority in Germany that providing shore-power was not enough in itself and that increasing regulation, emissions reduction and public sentiment meant it needed to be "green" electricity.

On the potential north arm dredging, Simon Byrnes told the Newcastle Herald that Port of Newcastle was planning a feasibility study to find the best way to help the offshore wind industry.

"This will involve a multi-criteria site selection process to determine the best location at the Port, considering work health and safety, environment and other issues," Mr Byrnes said.

"The north arm of the Hunter River may be a suitable location as it allows the site to be away from current shipping operations and may provide the land and berths required."

"Any capital (or non-maintenance) dredging at the port requires (separate) planning approvals and will follow the relevant environmental assessments."

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