Port Of Hamburg First In Europe To Offer Shore Power For Cruise & Container Ships

The Port of Hamburg has emerged as the first port in Europe to extend shore power for container and cruise vessels.

The Vasco de Gama, belonging to the CMA CGM Group, was the first container vessel continuously supplied with shore power at the Container Terminal Hamburg (popular as CTH).

This was preceded by multiple tests on several ships and systems.

In the future, container vessels will be able to power themselves from renewable sources available on land when they are at the dock instead of using engines.

The First Mayor of Hamburg, Dr Peter Tschentscher, said that Hamburg is the first port in Europe to offer shore power for cruise and container vessels.

2025 onwards, huge cruise and container terminals in the port will have shore power connections.

This is unique in Europe and a crucial step toward minimizing CO2 and pollutant emissions at the Port of Hamburg.

Jens Meier, the CEO of the Hamburg Port Authority, mentioned that the project was introduced when there were a lot of uncertainties about the use of shore-side power.

The number of container vessels in Europe capable of making the best use of shore power was nearly zero.

Despite uncertainties, the authorities decided to advance and mark the way for a sustainable future.

In doing so, Hamburg raised its profile as a next-gen pioneer and doer.

The new plant at CTH will offer shore-side power to three mega-ship berths of the terminal via the connections with a capacity of 7.5 megavolt-amperes each.

It will offer renewable energy to vessels from the public grid provided by the HEnW.

Around €13 million was reportedly invested during the two-year development phase; besides Hamburg’s share, Germany’s government, through the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection, contributed 50% of the costs.

The Hamburg Port Authority has been finalizing contractual deals regarding the conditions and usage with shipping majors authorized to use shore-side electricity, building on existing deals with Hamburg Port’s customers.

Last year, the port registered a solid container throughput of about 7.7 million TEU despite economic issues.

Reference: Port Technology

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Source: Maritime Shipping News