Stena Line and the Port of Trelleborg inaugurate onshore power supply

October 24, 2017 - Stena Line is a pioneer in this field, and since 1989 has been able to connect up a number of its vessels to the electricity grid when docked. At present four of Stena Line’s six ports in Sweden are now connected to the local electricity grid. Throughout Stena Line’s route network, 17 per cent of the ports are connected.

 “We are delighted to have completed yet another onshore power supply connection together with the Port of Trelleborg. Sustainability is one of the cornerstones of our strategy and this is an important contribution to our efforts by reducing emissions and cutting down on noise in port. On many of our ferry routes our vessels call at locations close to cities and this makes it especially important to be able to shut off the engines when docked. Planning work is under way to enable us to connect vessels in more of our ports. The objective is for 25 per cent of the ports we use to have an electrical connection by 2020 and 75 per cent by 2030,” says Stena Line’s CEO Niclas Mårtensson. 

 At the ports where Stena Line has an onshore power supply vessels connect up to the electricity grid when docked for more than two hours. Stena Line’s vessels in Trelleborg are docked for more than two hours 10 times out of 16 per week and will connect up to the electricity grid at these times. The connection means that the machinery on board is completely shut down, bringing emissions down to practically zero, and for maximum total environmental gain green electricity is used, which is also the case in Trelleborg. In 2016, all Stena Line’s electrical connections in port contributed to a reduction in CO2 emissions of 12,500 tons, which equates to the annual consumption of 6,500 average passenger cars. Installation of electrical connections is a major investment, with the port generally paying for the onshore installation and the shipping company paying for onboard installation. The onshore equipment is protected against overload for a nominal load of 2.2 MW, which is equivalent to heating around 80 blocks of flats.

 “It’s really great that Stena Line has decided to connect two of its vessels to the onshore power supply at the Port of Trelleborg. The work and planning for the installation has taken several years and the Port of Trelleborg received a grant from the EU for the investment, which will reduce both emissions and noise from docked vessels,” says CEO of the Port of Trelleborg Jörgen Nilsson.