At the Ostseekai, the Minister of Economics, Transport, Labour and Technology and Tourism of the State of Schleswig-Holstein, Dr Bernd Buchholz and Kiel's Lord Mayor, Dr Ulf Kämpfer, officially commissioned one of the most powerful on-shore power plants in Europe together with the CEO of the Costa Group, Michael Thamm and Dr Dirk Claus, Managing Director at the PORT OF KIEL, according to the company's release.
After the successful integration test, the "AIDAsol" was the first cruise ship to be connected to the shore power supply system on 16th June. With 16 megawatts, the facility can supply a cruise ship at the Ostseekai and the Stena Line ferries at the Schwedenkai in parallel with electricity produced from hydropower in a climate-neutral way.
Minister Buchholz: "Today we are taking a big step in making maritime shipping in Schleswig-Holstein even more eco-friendly."
The state of Schleswig-Holstein supported the construction of the 13.5 million euro plant with about 9 million euros and successfully lobbied at the federal level for a reduction of the EEG apportionment on shore power.
"With this investment, which now enables shore power supply at a total of three locations in Kiel, the seaport should also be very far ahead in international comparison. The plant will save thousands of tonnes of CO2 and thus relieve the people in the state capital considerably," said Buchholz. This showed once again that ecology and economy can be well balanced, he added." After all, we want to stay in the game as a cruise metropolis, but we want to do it with the best environmental conditions - and that's exactly what we have here."
A good three years ago, on 26th April 2018, the State of Schleswig-Holstein, the State Capital City of Kiel, the PORT OF KIEL and the Costa Group signed the Memorandum of Understanding on the joint promotion of eco-friendly cruise tourism in the seaport of Kiel on board the "AIDAluna" at the Ostseekai. This set the course for the further intensification of cooperation with the aim of sustainably developing the maritime infrastructure, the economy and tourism in northern Germany.
The new on-shore power plant has also been supplying the Stena Line ferries with green electricity on a daily basis since the beginning of the year. This saves about 5,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year at the Schwedenkai alone. For every cruise ship that is supplied with shore power, there is an additional saving of about 45 tonnes of CO2 on average at the Ostseekai. In addition, since May 2019, the Color Line ferries at the Norwegenkai have been connected to the shore-side grid, resulting in a further 3,000 tonnes less CO2 per year.
Shore power for ferries and cruise ships is an important step for the PORT OF KIEL on the way to becoming a climate-neutral port.
In its first full year of operation, the port of Kiel plans to supply 70 cruise calls with shore power.
Siemens supplied the core electrical and electronic elements of the on-shore power plant. It essentially consists of converters, medium-voltage switchgear, automation and an energy monitoring system.
The mobile device for transferring the power cables to the ship comes from Stemmann-Technik, a company of the Wabtec Corporation. The cable system can be used flexibly in conjunction with the connection boxes on the terminal site and is thus suitable for cruise ships of different sizes and designs.