Malta has officially launched its shore power technology in the Grand Harbour, allowing cruise liners to connect to the local electric grid while docked, becoming the first port in the Mediterranean Sea to do so.
This advancement, inaugurated by Prime Minister Robert Abela after an eight-month trial, enables up to five cruise liners to simultaneously draw power from the grid, reducing pollution for approximately 17,000 residents around the harbor by 90% by 2030. This reduction aligns with the EU’s forthcoming requirement for all cruise liners to utilize on-shore power supply (OPS) by that year.
Valetta’s local power grid supplied electricity for MSC World Europa’s operations while the ship was berthed, allowing all engines to be switched off and eliminating the vessel’s direct emissions at the port to improve local air quality.
Captain Stefano Battinelli showed the Prime Minister around the 22-deck LNG-powered ship. Michele Francioni, MSC Cruises’ Chief Energy Transition Officer, gave a presentation to Abela and other Maltese government officials covering the line’s decarbonization strategy for achieving net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050 for its marine operations.
Shore power is one very important element of our continued commitment toward decarbonization, with most of our fleet equipped to eliminate local emissions and improve local air quality when the ships are at berth in port, and we can switch off their engines as local shoreside electricity powers the operation.
… said Michele Francioni, Chief Energy Transition Officer, MSC Cruises
The system, capable of providing 64 Megavolt Amperes of power at various frequencies, will charge energy usage at unsubsidized commercial rates.
