Ports of Stockholm will now include LED lighting, prefabricated construction units and surprisingly little noise pollution. Also, now all major Stockholm ports have photovoltaic systems.
“If we can influence others to switch to more sustainable solutions then we will really have made a difference,”Project Manager Per Ling-Vannerus says for the development project at Värtahamnen port.
The development of Värtahamnen is without doubt the largest project ever undertaken by Ports of Stockholm and from the outset had a prominent environmental profile. Per Ling-Vannerus explains how the strong environmental traditions of Ports of Stockholm have dovetailed with the ambitions of the City of Stockholm to make the Stockholm Royal Seaport a sustainable city district.
At each of the quay-berths the vessels can connect to the electricity grid at the port and so save fuel that would otherwise be used to generate electrical power for the vessel while it is at the quayside.
If the vessel turns off its engines there is also significantly less noise pollution, which is an important factor when you consider how many people will live here in the future,” says Per Ling-Vannerus as he looks over his shoulder towards the area where the new Stockholm Royal Seaport city district is emerging.
In conjunction with the first vessel call the entire project shifted focus from the outer to the inner parts of the port. Parts of the harbour basin will be filled in and the new terminal building will be ready for inauguration towards the end of summer 2016. Ports of Stockholm’s goal is that the passenger terminal will receive green building gold level certification, which is the highest rating possible. The passenger terminal is designed to use approximately 40 percent less energy compared to the standard requirements of the Swedish National Board of Housing, Building and Planning construction regulations.
Värtahamnen
The new port will have five quay-berths, with the longest reaching 265 metres. The new land surface area will have 1,200 metres of new quay extending along it. The pier will be extended by a 65,000 square-metre pile-supported deck and 20,000 square-metres of backfilled surface area. The new surface areas and the current pier will be where the Ports of Stockholm operations at Värtahamnen will be focussed in the future. When rebuilding work is completed, Värtahamnen will comprise 131,000 square-metres, which is the same amount of area that the old port covered.
Moreover, Ports of Stockholm now has a third photovoltaic system facility. The system has been installed on the flat roof of the customs building at the Port of Kapellskär. The new facility is 400 m² in area and consists of 255 solar panels generating a maximum power of around 60 kW. As part of the company’s target to become a fossil fuel-free operation, Ports of Stockholm has chosen to commit to renewable energy.
“Now we have photovoltaic systems at all three of our major ports. This is one of the measures we are implementing to achieve our target of becoming a fossil fuel-free operation and we are planning to install more facilities,” says Johan Castwall, Ports of Stockholm Managing Director.
Ports of Stockholm’s first photovoltaic system was installed at Frihamnen and is one of the largest roof-mounted facilities in Sweden. During 2014 the second photovoltaic system was taken into operation at the Port of Nynäshamn. Experience of the facilities to date has been only positive.
Even in the darkest of winter months the facilities generate electricity. The annual production at the Port of Kapellskär alone is equivalent to the total annual consumption of more than two average sized detached houses. The electricity produced by the photovoltaic systems is then used by the same building the system is installed at.
