Shore Power Success

 

(Kiel, 30th May 2024) On Saturday, the PORT OF KIEL supplied two cruise ships, the MSC Euribia and the AIDAnova, with shore power in parallel for the first time. Following the successful completion of the integration process at the weekend, the MSC Euribia used shore power for several hours before setting sail again. In future, it will be almost emission-free when calling at the Ostuferhafen. The second regular seasonal guest at the Ostuferhafen, the Costa Diadema, also went through large parts of the integration process at the weekend and is about to receive its first supply. On Thursday 23rd June, the Mein Schiff 1 from TUI Cruises was also approved to use the shore power system after successfully completing the tests. This means that the PORT OF KIEL remains on course for its declared shore-side power target for 2024.

 

“Our target for this cruise season is one hundred shore power calls - the last few days show that this was a realistic estimate. The ships that have already been integrated make up a large proportion of the calls this year. However, we don't want to give the impression that this is a piece of cake: the devil is in the detail. We are working flat out and with great manpower to get the ships plugged in,” says Dr Dirk Claus, Managing Director of SEEHAFEN KIEL GmbH & Co. KG. A total of over 150 MWh of electricity was supplied to the three cruise ships via the shore power systems over the weekend. Due to the favourable conditions for generating green electricity during berthing times, which the port relies on for its shore power supply, electricity from the plug is now also economically attractive for the shipping companies.

 

With the supply of MSC Euribia, AIDAnova and Mein Schiff 1, the port is expecting a one hundred per cent shore power weekend also for the upcoming cruise weekend. The dual supply of cruise ships is made possible by the shore power system at the Ostuferhafen, which was completed in autumn 2023. Together with the system at the Ostseekai, which has been in operation since 2021 and also supplies the Stena Line ferry at the Schwedenkai as a dual system, the PORT OF KIEL can supply two cruise ships with shore power in parallel. In order to avoid a bottleneck in the future when two integrated cruise ships make a double call, an expansion of the facility at the Ostseekai is currently being planned,
which will enable the parallel supply of three cruise ships in the port of Kiel from mid-2025.

 

For several years now, the PORT OF KIEL has been investing in the expansion of its shore power infrastructure, which is considered an important component of environmentally friendly maritime tourism. With supply connections at all major ferry and cruise terminals, the port of Kiel is one of the international pioneers in the field of shore power. According to the CLIA, only 20 cruise ports worldwide currently
have shore power supply facilities. ###