New system will provide electricity to vising cruise ships so they can turn off their engines while berthed
By
Rebecca Gibson |
Norway’s Port of Kristiansand is to install a shore power system at its cruise terminal with the help of local energy company Agder Energi Nett and Danish company PowerCon.
Set to be Europe’s largest, the new €4 million (US$4.9 million) shore power facility will be co-financed by the European Union (EU) and the Horizon 2020 SME programme. The project will be an important contributor to the achievement of the EU target of shore power in all important European ports by 2025.
The facility will be built by PowerCon, which has delivered various shore power systems to multiple Norwegian ports in recent years. It will be able to accommodate the world’s largest cruise ships and will be installed and tested during the 2018 cruise season.
“The port has made significant investment over the past five years, and this EU-financed project has the potential to be a game-changer in the cruise industry,” said the Port of Kristiansand in a press release. “What makes the shore power system unique is the frequency converter that provides the ships with 50/60 Hertz, as required by the ship. The system will be integrated in a total of eight containers with a total capacity of 16 MVA complying with the international high voltage IEC 80005-1 standard.”