Fathom Spotlight: Shore Connection is the Future

In simple terms, shore power systems enable a ship to connect to the electricity grid of the country where it's berthed, rather than having to rely on the ship's generators. These types of systems have existed for a while, especially across naval sectors.

Advances in environmental legislation within the maritime industry over the past decade combined with the arrival of the IEC/ISO/IEEE 80005-1 standard in 2014 has accelerated the global deployment of this technology.

In light of this, and in preparation for a unique industry seminar 'Shore Power for the Ship Operator' being hosted in London on the 25th November 2014, Fathom caught up with Peter Selway, Marketing Manager at Schneider Electric, to find out how shore connections can benefit ship owners and why it's important they invest in the technology.

At the Helm of Shore Power Innovation

The technology behind shore connections hasn't changed or developed very quickly and is generally a rotary of static based systems that often require new buildings to be built and extensive infrastructure to support them.

With this in mind, Schneider Electric decided to take a fresh new look at the technology and designed a new system from the ground up, using the very efficient Grid Frequency Converters and a modular design. The end result is a solution that is cheaper to run, more efficient, faster to deploy and much more flexible than existing shore connection technology.

Schneider Electric's ShoreBoX solution is a ready-to-use modular system which provides shore-side power to ships at berth via a direct connection to the port's electrical network, allowing ships to save money and enabling both ships and ports to meet environmental directives and regulations in the most profitable way.

The ShoreBoX solution is adaptable to the different power demands and electrical frequency of the ships and due to a Static Grid Frequency Conversion system, ShoreBoX transfers just the energy needed at any given moment, no more.

Shore connections can significantly save ship owners money. Running on-board generators at berth for example is much more expensive than using a shore connection. In fact, a ship owner can expect a payback in as little as three years and Schneider Electric has calculated that a cruise liner could save £319k per year by using a shore connection.

Why Invest Now?

By 2025, it's going to be mandatory for European ports to implement shore connection systems but before that, there are significant environmental and commercial benefits for ship and port owners to reap.

Despite these benefits, there is still some apprehension amongst ship owners as they argue that it should be the ports that make the first move to set up the shore power infrastructure. This has created a 'chicken and egg' situation where ports won't invest until ship owners build or adapt ships that are shore connection ready, and ship owners are demanding that ports have the shore connection infrastructure in place before they invest in developing their ships.

To break this cycle, it's imperative that ship owners work collaboratively with ports to implement this technology which has such considerable benefits for all of those involved. However, it's also important that ship owners look at investing outside of what the ports are doing. Ideally, ships should be built to be able to take a shore connection as the additional cost is negligible. Retrofitting can be done and Schneider Electric of course offers this service but it is much more expensive to do. Most new ships are now built to be shore connection ready but it's important to check that it is part of the specification for the ship from day one.

Evolving the Technology

Schneider Electric has been working with most major ports and owners to develop these connections. However, with this supply and demand situation, engaging with ship owners directly is equally important.

As with any technology, there are many issues that need to be considered such as how much and what frequency of power is required. To help better understand the issues, Schneider Electric has been raising the profile of the technology with the industry by hosting seminars and publishing articles around the world and will continue to do so until this 'chicken and the egg' situation is resolved.

Shore connections not only completely remove all pollution from the port, but also create a win-win situation for everyone involved.  Ship owners save money and create a healthier environment for their staff and ports create new revenue opportunities and a better local environment.