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The port-logistic industry has a significant impact on the urban environment nearby ports and on the surrounding coastal areas. This is due to the use of large auxiliary power systems on ships operating during port stays, as well as to the employment of a number of fossil fuel powered road vehicles required for port operations. The environmental impact related to the use of these vehicles is twofold: on one hand, they contribute directly to port emissions by fuel consumption; on the other hand, they require some of the ship auxiliary systems to operate intensively, such as the ventilation system, which must operate to remove the pollutants produced by the vehicle engines inside the ship. The pathway to achieve decarbonization and mitigation of energy use in ports involves therefore the adoption of alternative and cleaner technology solutions for the propulsion systems of such port vehicles.

The second-life use of batteries from electric vehicles (EV) represents an excellent and cost-effective option for energy storage applications, including the control of fluctuations in energy supply and demand or in combination with solar photovoltaic and wind turbine. Indeed, these batteries are normally replaced from EV use before the end of their service life, when they still have 70-80% of the original capacity. Depending on the cell chemistry and the specific design, such batteries can still be employed in less stressful applications than the automotive one, including commercial, residential, and industrial applications. With the aim to promote the transition to a circular closed-loop economy for spent traction batteries, this study consists in a systematic literature review of available options for reusing EV batteries as a storage system in a factory environment, highlighting benefits and critical aspects.