Kiel offers emission-free berthing for ships

Commencement of the project means that come spring 2019 the port will be able to supply large cruise ferries with all the electrical power they need during the time they are berthed at the Norwegenkai Terminal.

“Upon completion of the Norwegenkai onshore power plant, the Schwedenkai Terminal and the Cruise Shipping Terminal Ostseekai will also be equipped with onshore power supply facilities by 2020,” said Dirk Claus, port director.

“It is our intention to provide half of all ship calls in Kiel with onshore power in future. Doing so means that we are setting a new European standard for cleaner operations.”

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The Norwegenkai facility is being built by Siemens AG at a total cost of €1.3 million.

When completed, the Norwegenkai onshore power supply plant will have a maximum power rating of 4.5 Megawatts (MW) at 10 Kilovolt (KV) and a network frequency of 50 Hertz (Hz).

The core components of the plant are the land-to-ship power transfer station (PLUG), manufactured by the firm called NG3, alongside the air-insulated, metal-clad, medium voltage switchboard.

All the required switching procedures communicated by the ship via the interface are carried out automatically.

Norway’s shipping operator Color Line will be one of the first to benefit from the new shore side power facility.

The ships Color Fantasy and Color Magic, which provide a daily link between Kiel and Oslo have been connected to onshore power supply in Oslo since 2011 and in all four Norwegian ports since 2017.

The onshore power supply plant for the Norwegenkai is part of the BLUE PORT concept, in which further facilities of this kind are already being planned for Kiel.