Siemens Energy and the Lübeck municipal utilities have agreed a partnership on the implementation on projects for shoreside power supply to ships berthed in port. The two companies have now signed a cooperation agreement to that effect. The agreement regulates cooperation relating to the acquisition, planning and execution of shoreside power supply projects. The objective of the partnership is to offer the entire solutions portfolio for energy-efficient, eco-friendly shoreside power supply ranging from energy consulting to technical implementation within Europe.
“By bundling the know-how of a leading high-tech company like Siemens with the expertise of a power provider like the Lübeck municipal utilities, we are today already one of the most competent providers in this special market for intelligent and eco-friendly grid technologies,” said Ralf Christian, CEO of the Power Distribution Division of Siemens Energy. “Our cooperation has already made its mark with Germany’s first shoreside power connection for merchant shipping in Lübeck,“ said Klaus Möller, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Lübeck municipal utilities.
In late August 2008, Siemens Energy and the Lübeck municipal utilities successfully put Germany’s first shoreside power supply system for merchant shipping on line. The shoreside power supply system installed on the Nordland dock at the port of Lübeck provides an economical, eco-friendly supply of electrical energy to ships while they are berthed in port via the local medium-voltage network. The shoreside power supply system was built for the Swedish/Finnish paper producer Stora Enso. The first purchaser of shoreside power is the Swedish shipping line Transatlantic with its paper ferries Transpaper, Transpulp and Transtimber. Transatlantic is a business partner of Stora Enso and responsible for the transport of paper.
The Lübeck shoreside power connection is a 50-Hz system because the on-board system of the Transatlantic ships operates at the same frequency as the local power supply network. However, approximately two-thirds of all ocean-going ships are equipped with a 60-Hz on-board power system. If these ships are to be supplied with power via a shoreside connection in port, the system frequency also has to be adapted. For that purpose Siemens has developed the Siharbor shoreside power supply system on the basis of the Siplink medium-voltage DC link. Siplink makes it possible to provide a non-interruptible link between on-board systems and shoreside power supply networks despite the different voltages and frequencies.
As soon as ships have obtained the power they need from the shoreside power supply system, they can shut down the diesel generators otherwise kept running while the ships are berthed in port. Because the diesel generators not only produce power but also exhaust gases, soot, particulates and noise, ships with shoreside power supply thus also help to reduce harbor smog, which is becoming an increasingly serious environmental problem in many port cities. Energy-efficient power supply solutions for ships berthed in port are part of Siemens environmental portfolio, with which the company posted revenue totaling almost EUR19 billion in fiscal 2008. That is equivalent to approximately a quarter of Siemens total revenue.