Tag: cold ironing

During an interview with the SAFETY4SEA team at Nor-Shipping 2019, Jan Erik Rasanen, Head of New Technologies, Foreship, talked about the need of today’s ships to comply with upcoming legislations, providing an overview of the major highlights regarding alternative propulsion technologies for ships.

Shore power enables ships equipped with the necessary equipment to shut down diesel powered auxiliary engines and plug into land-based electrical power. This reduces emissions of pollutants that damage air quality and GHG emissions that contribute to climate change. It also reduces engine noise. In this video, the Port of Vancouver presents its own shore power facility.

APL announced a 47.4% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions per container transported per kilometre in 2018, compared to its base level in 2009. The result comes after the Environmental Performance Assessment (EPA) of APL’s 2018 carbon dioxide emission data by the global non-profit organization Business for Social Responsibility’s Clean Cargo Working Group. 

Using electrical power for ships at berth instead of diesel-burning engines, 'cold ironing' can greatly reduce air pollution from ships. When ships use shore power, they connect into landside electricity for their power needs at berth, avoiding to run diesel-fueled auxiliary on-board engines. According to estimations, shore power is able to limit air pollution from ships at berth by 95%.

With the shipping industry entering a new, environmentally-friendly period, stakeholders in the maritime industry are seeking for ways to reduce their ships’ emissions. Apart from choosing green fuels and scrubbers, ports come to add another solution: Cold Ironing. This is the process of providing shoreside electrical power to a ship at berth, while its main and auxiliary engines are turned off.

North Sea Port announced the addition of two new shore-based power units in Ghent, meaning that shore-side power is now available in Terneuzen and Ghent. North Sea Port is currently taking measures to improve air quality in the port, as it already provides shore-side power for inland waterway vessels. These shore-based power units were commissioned on 1 March.

Innovative technology will be developed in Hamburg to enable large and very large container ships to switch off their auxiliary diesel supplies during lay time and draw the power for on-board operations from a mobile generator. Namely, Becker Marine Systems, Hapag-Lloyd AG and Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG have been testing the new technology as part of a joint pilot project.

The Port of Kiel will invest in cargo handling and environmental technology. Namely, the Port plans to re-design the entrance area to Kiel’s Ostuferhafen terminal, while another project aims for the creation of an onshore power supply plant for Kiel’s Norwegenkai terminal.

International Car Operators signed an agreement with the Belgian port of Zeebrugge for a 54-hectare expansion of the Bastenaken car terminal. The expansion will connect Bastenaken with the Hanze terminal. As part of the expansion, ICO aims to supply electricity to charge future terminal handling equipment.

Plugging a ship into shore-side power and turning off onboard generators is one solution to reduce air pollution from ships, as well as limit local noise. For this reason, IMO will examine safety aspects of on shore power supply to ships, also known as “cold ironing”, “alternative maritime power” and “shore-side electricity”.