The SEA TERMINALS Project performs a public demonstration day of the pilot trials to the port cluster
The European project SEA TERMINALS, led by the Valenciaport Foundation with the collaboration of the Port Authority of Valencia ( PAV) and Noatum, organised yesterday a public demonstration at the facilities of the PAV and Noatum Container Terminal Valencia of the pilot trials, BPO said in its press release.
The demonstration was attended by Aurelio Martínez, Chairman of the Port Authority of Valencia, Douglas Schultz, CEO of Noatum, Helmut Morsi, the Adviser to the Director of Unit DG MOVE-B - European Mobility Network and Coordinator of Innovation & New Technologies of the European Commission (EC) and Vicente del Río, the general manager of the Valenciaport Foundation.
During the event, the results of the seven pilots developed at Noatum Container Terminal Valencia were shown. The public seen a real life demonstration of the features that characterize the full electric Terminal Tractor prototype developed by Terberg. Next, the eco-Reach Stacker, as well as, the eco-Empty Container Handler equipped with fuel saving systems and state of-the-art cutting emissions technologies developed by Hyster were shown. The three pilots started mid-September and they have been running for two months continuously almost without interruptions, with each machine working around 700 hours since the implementation.
In comparison with a conventional terminal tractor, the full electric tractor has shown advantages in relation to noise disturbance and environmental emissions. Nevertheless, it has been observed that further development of the batteries is required. Regarding the eco-Reach Stacker and the eco-Empty Container Handler have achieved same performance levels in comparison to conventional machines, however a significant reduction in CO2 emissions was achieved.
The demonstration of the new Hybrid Diesel Generator (HDG) for RTG cranes was carried out. The prototype is based on supercaps storage technology and was developed by PACECO ESPAÑA. The test revealed that using a HDG, an RTG crane of any manufacturer and design is able to double their energy efficiency. Furthermore, the tests have proved that a conversion of RTG cranes equipped with conventional diesel generators to Hybrid Diesel Generators creates significant savings on fuel consumption (over 50%) and costs related to it.
The public was also able to observe in life the Terminal Dynamic Illumination system developed by EDAE (Ingenieria de Aplicaciones Energéticas SLU). This system includes LED luminaire and software that manages the lighting needs required by the container terminal. The lighting levels are diminished to a third when there are no operations around the lighting towers. Moreover, the system automatically adapt the lighting conditions during sunrise and sunset hours so there are no abrupt changes on lighting levels. After being tested for a 1000 hours, the first results show that the system could generate 80% of savings in energy consumption and costs. Taking into account these savings, the payback for the installation is under 2 years (IRR over 35% and the NPV may triple the investment). With the positive results of this pilot, Noatum will change the sodium luminaire at Valencia’s terminal to LED luminaire.
Finally, the participants of the event were able to know first-hand the innovative operative management system developed by Noatum, Amplía Soluciones, ITE and Valenciaport Foundation: the prototypes “Black Box Concept” and the SEAMS platform. The “Black Box Concept” generates around 17,600 signals per second, relative to position, speed, power consumption, etc. of all the equipment of the port container terminal. From this data the “SEAMS Platform” obtains a set of 27 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in real time. These indicators will allow the improvement of the operative plan and the energy efficiency of the terminal, reducing fuel consumption and energy by identifying operative bottlenecks. Furthermore, with the implementation of these prototypes, GHG emissions of the terminal equipment can be calculated according to their mode of operation (eco or high performance mode).
SEA TERMINALS project
The main objective of this project, which is co-funded by the TEN-T programme of the European Commission is to boost the port industry towards more efficient operative models, integrating the energy variable as a key driver to improve the Port Container Terminals (PCTs).
The SEA TERMINALS project used the lessons learned from the GREENCRANES project where the results revealed that smart management of the energy consumption and the use of alternative fuels is a viable option that creates important benefits at all levels in PCTs
The partners of the SEA TERMINALS project are the Valenciaport Foundation (coordinator), Port Authority of Valencia - PAV; Noatum; Amplía Soluciones, S.L., Ingeniería de Aplicaciones Energéticas SLU, (EDAE); Instituto Tecnológico de Energía – ITE; NACCO Materials Handling BV; Terberg Benschop B.V.; Italian Minister of Transport and Infrastructure - MIT and Baltic Ports Organization. Besides at the project collaborates as implementing bodies of the MIT: the Port Authority of Livorno, Global Service, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna (PERCRO) and OLT Offshore LNG Toscana S.p.A.