Thursday, June 24, 2021 - 12:24 by ce-press
A facility to provide shorepower to two cruiseships at the same time on Prestebrygga and Stornespiren in the Ports of Aalesund will be ready by Easter 2022.
Originally planned to be completed this year, the project was delayed due to Covid-19. Work on the quay is due to begin in the autumn with minimal infrastructure development required.
PSW Power & Automation will deliver the electrical components of the new shorepower capability whilst ShoreLink will provide an innovative and efficient cable management system.
“We work constantly to find good and effective solutions that benefit both the city, the shipping companies and not least the environment,” said Maria Bos, ceo of Plug and general manager of Plug Aalesund (owned 50% Aalesund municipality and 50% Plug Holding).
“The corona pandemic has put the entire cruise industry on hold, but all indications are that traffic will pick up again as soon as conditions allow. With support from Enova and the contracts with PSW Power & Automation and ShoreLink, we are well underway with securing a shorepower capability for cruiseships calling at Aalesund in the future,” said Ole Christian Fiskaa, harbour master Ports of Aalesund.
Plug Aalesund will establish shore power supply with a capacity of 32MVA. The largest cruiseships today can consume up to 60,000l fuel per 24 hours. “When connecting to shore power we allow the ship to turn off the engines. This way we replace the burning of fossil fuel with the use of clean electric energy. The result is cleaner air and less noise,” he explained.
“A large cruiseship will normally need an electric supply of approx 8MW. This equals to an approximate use of 2,000l of fuel per hour. (MVA or MW is a unit description of electric capacity.)
The facility will be Europe`s second largest shorepower plant for cruiseships, following that in Bergen.
A shorepower system will contribute to substantial noise and emission reductions to the environment and the local population, as well as great maintenance and fuel savings for the shipowners.
“We have developed a compact high-energy converter system which has, amongst others, resulted in reduced environmental footprint and increased capacity. To illustrate how powerful this power plant is you can compare it with the average annual energy consume of 12,000 Norwegian households (ref SSB 2012),” says Eirik Soerensen, general manager PSW Power & Automation.
Aalesund still has cruiseships booked to call in the last quarter and is fully booked next year although so far there have been no specific requests for shorepower connection, explains Synnoeve Johnsen, port press relations & marketing manager cruise, Ports of Aalesund.
