A major shore power step has been taken at one European port.
The onshore power plant at the Port of Kiel’s Ostseekai cruise terminal has been officially inaugurated. The 16MW facility is expected to offer savings of approximately 8,000t of CO2 annually and can supply a cruise ship at Ostseekai and a ferry at the Schwedenkai terminal in parallel.
"With this investment, which now enables shore power supply at a total of three locations in Kiel, the seaport should also be very far ahead in international comparison. The plant will save thousands of tonnes of CO2 and thus relieve the people in the state capital considerably," said Dr Bernd Buchholz, Minister of Economics, Transport, Labour and Technology and Tourism of the State of Schleswig-Holstein.
AIDA Cruises’ AIDAsol was the first cruise ship to be connected to the shore power supply system on 16th June. The ship is to receive shore power in regular operation at Kiel with immediate effect.
The new onshore power plant has also been supplying electricity to Stena Line ferries daily at the Schwedenkai since the beginning of the year. This saves about 5,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year at the Schwedenkai alone. For every cruise ship that is supplied with shore power, there is an additional saving of about 45t of CO2 on average at the Ostseekai.
In addition, since May 2019, the Color Line ferries at the Norwegenkai have been connected to the shoreside grid, resulting in a further 3,000t less CO2 per year. The state of Schleswig-Holstein supported the construction of the €13.5m plant with about €9m and successfully lobbied at the federal level for a reduction of the EEG apportionment on shore power.
In its first full year of operation, the Port of Kiel plans to supply 70 cruise calls with shore power.
Kiel's Lord Mayor, Dr Ulf Kämpfer said another onshore power plant is being planned for the Ostuferhafen.
Siemens supplied the core electrical and electronic elements of the onshore power plant. The ShoreCONNECT mobile carrier system for transferring the power cables to the ship comes from Stemmann-Technik, a subsidiary of the Wabtec Corporation.
