On Saturday, the PORT OF KIEL opened two shore power facilities at the Ostuferhafen. The facilities comprise a 50/60 Hz shore power facility for cruise ships and ferries as well as a 50 Hz shore power facility for ferries and were funded in equal parts by the Federal Government and the State of Schleswig-Holstein. Schleswig-Holstein's Minister-President Daniel Günther handed over the grant of more than 11 million euros to Dirk Claus, Managing Director at SEEHAFEN KIEL GmbH & Co. KG, during the opening ceremony in the presence of Kiel's Mayor Ulf Kämpfer. The necessary commissioning of the plant for cruise ships has already begun. In parallel, integration tests with the cruise ship MSC Euribia also continued on Saturday in preparation for regular supply.
Over the next few years, Kiel will be the home port for MSC Cruises' newest flagship, MSC Euribia. The energy-efficient cruise ship will be the first vessel to take shore power at the Ostufer-hafen.
Like the existing shore power facilities at Norwegenkai and Schweden-/Ostseekai, the new facilities at Ostuferhafen were built by SIEMENS AG.
The expansion of the shore power infrastructure is one of the priority projects of the Kiel seaport to reduce Co2 emissions as well as air/pollutant emissions of the ships during their berthing times. After the opening of the first shore power facility at Norwegenkai with a capacity of 4.5 MVA, 50 HZ, 10kV in 2019, the opening of a combined facility to supply cruise ships at Ostseekai (16 MVA, 50/60 Hz, 6.6/11kV) and ferries at Schwedenkai (5 MVA, 50/60 HZ, 6.6/11kV) followed in 2021. This makes the PORT OF KIEL one of the pioneers among ports on an international scale. According to the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), only two percent of the world's ports currently offer shore-side power supply for cruise ships. In the current year 2023, around half of the calls of ferry and cruise ships have already been supplied with shore-side power via the existing shore power facilities in Kiel. The company uses Scandinavian green electricity for the shore power supply of the seagoing vessels.
The 17-million-euro construction project at Ostuferhafen includes two shore power facilities with capacities for the parallel supply of up to three seagoing vessels. The first of the two shore power plants is designed to supply one ferry and one cruise ship and connects four berths at Ostuferhafen to shore power. It has a capacity of 16 MVA and can supply cruise ships and ferries with a frequency of 50 or
60 Hz and a voltage of 6.6 kV or 11 kV. The second shore power system with a 50 Hz grid frequency is exclusively designed for RoRo ships and supplies two berths with a voltage of 6.6 kV or 11 kV up to a maximum power of 5 MVA. The construction project was realised with financial support from the federal government in accordance with Article 104b of the German Basic Law and from state funds in
accordance with § 44 of the Schleswig-Holstein state budget regulations under the directive for the granting of subsidies for the promotion of shore power facilities in commercial ports in Schleswig-Holstein.