ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

Port of Bergen
adopts shore power
Silvia Caballero, Business Development Director for Shore Connection Solutions; and Christian
Collombet, Global Architect for Marine and Shore Connection Solutions, Schneider Electric,
Grenoble, France

Powering a berthed ship from a port’s This shore connection installation other applicable standards for low voltage
electrical grid is the optimal way of will be the first of several more for the substations. The ShoreBoX is a ready
reducing air pollution in port areas, different OSV and cruise berths in the to use pre-designed system that can be
especially as ships are responsible for Port of Bergen. Other ports in Norway installed, commissioned and operational
around 50% of the total air emissions are also following example and plan to be within one week, minimising nuisance to
emitting from ports. Shore power is the equipped for shore connection in the near ongoing berth activity.
only technology that curbs not only SOx, future. This is the contemporary case for One of the technical challenges a shore
but also other dangerous pollutants such Stavanger port. connection system needs to cope with is
as NOx, particulate matter, VOC, and the frequency conversion, since very often
depending on the electricity mix available, A world first the land generated electricity is in 50 Hz,
a substantial reduction in the CO2 The now operational installation in the while onboard the need is for 60 Hz. The
generation associated to ship power. The Port of Bergen is the first low voltage ShoreBoX solves this problem via modular
noise and the vibrations linked to the use shore connection installation in the world static frequency converters that offer
of auxiliary engines at berth, a common made according to the new IEC/IEEE/ maximised energy efficiency and power
nuisance for residents living close to a port, ISO 80005-3 standard. This standard availability.
are also completely eliminated when shore is defining the system characteristics for
power is utilised. shore power installations to supply ships Framework overview
To invest in shore connection systems with a low voltage connection and up to 1 In addition to the LVSC standard, the
makes sense for ships spending several MVA nominal power needs. high voltage shore connection IEC/IEEE/
hours at berth to periods of days or even “Ships berth in different ports and, ISO 80005-1 standard is already published
weeks, depending on seasonality. This is likewise, different ships visit each and has been in application since
the case for offshore supply vessels (OSVs) specific ber th,” said Daniel R adu, August, 2012 for vessel connections with
in the North Sea, and this is something the President of the IEC/IEEE/ISO Shore power needs above 1 MVA. This is the
Port of Bergen is pioneer in implementing. Connection Standard Committee. “The applicable standard for larger vessels such
interoperability between onboard and as cruise ships and large or refrigerated
Bergen’s shore power installation onshore installation needs to be preserved, containerships. It defines two standardised
Bergen is a city surrounded by mountains and that is why an international standard voltage levels; 6.6 kV and 11 kV, and a
with its port right next to the city, leaving is needed and shall be applied by all different amount of cables to be connected
pollution from port activities accumulating stakeholders”. depending on vessel type. The larger the
in Bergen’s valley. Poor air quality has been The low voltage shore connection power need of a vessel, the higher the
very prominent in the ranking of the port’s standard does not define different amount of cables, which varies for ferries,
challenges in recent years and became the connection systems per vessel type. It only RoRos or cargo and cruise ships. For safety
prominent issue in 2013. However, this specifies a different amount of cables to be reasons, the connection of all available
issue has a solution. connected depending on the vessel power cables is required.
The Port of Bergen officially opened needs and its available sockets onboard. No The application of this standard will
the first low voltage shore connection specialisation is defined per type of vessel. soon be mandatory in Europe for all
installation to power OSVs in the The LVSC standard is available as a pre- shore connection installations, new or
North Sea in June, 2015. “By installing standard in publicly available specification renovated, as of November 2017 according
shore power the port wants to make (PAS) status and therefore it can be used to the Directive on the Deployment of
its contribution to reduce emissions in to design current installations already. It Alternative Fuels Infrastructure (DAFI
the city of Bergen,” said Inge Tangerås, will be officially finalised and published by directive 2014/94/EU) whic h was
Director of the Port of Bergen. The DOF the end of 2015. approved in March, 2014.
Group Skandi Vega OSV was the first To complete the normative frame, a
vessel to have power supplied from the grid The ShoreBoX third standard is under development and in
using this installation. Once powered, the The Schneider Electric ShoreBoX system quite an advanced phase. This is the IEC/
vessel could stop its auxiliary engines and in charge of adapting the grid power to ISO/IEEE 80005-2 standard that defines
the smoke, noise and vibrations associated the need of the vessel is fully compliant the communication protocol between
with them. with this new standard, as well as any the onboard and onshore systems. This

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ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

Port of Bergen
About the author
Silvia Caballero holds a Chemical
Engineering degree from Universidad
de Barcelona and a Master degree
in Marketing and Commercial
Management from ESIC Business
and Marketing School. W ith
more than 10 years experience in
industrial B2B marketing in different
companies, she is now Regional
Marketing & Business Development
Director for Shore Connection
business at Schneider Electric. She
collaborates regularly in the creation
and publication of papers and articles
in global ports and marine media, as
well as in relevant conferences and
seminars, with the aim to promote
the environmental and economical
benefits of shore connection
technology.

Christian Collombet graduated

in Electrical Engineering from
Grenoble INP in 1994. He joined
Schneider Electric at the end of
standard should be available as a PAS by is this done. Normally, it is the vessel in 1995 as Power System Engineer.
end of 2015. charge of launching and mastering the Christian has worked on electrical
synchronisation. distribution installation design in
Shore-to-ship data The data about the status of the different departments and became
communication components on the shore connection product owner of electrical software
With the soon to arrive IEC/IEEE/ISO system (on shore and onboard) is available in charge of ID-Spec Large first and
80005-2 standard, the communication to the operators onboard. During ship- then new generation of Ecodial. End
system for the monitoring and control of to-shore connection, alarms and warnings of 2013, he joined the Marine and
the ship-to-shore connection (other than shall be provided from shore-to-ship Shore Connection department to
for emergency functions) is completely or ship-to-shore in case of any issues in work on the technical development of
defined. It allows fast, efficient and order to help operators start a back-up solutions.
simplified connection and disconnection procedure if necessary. This will allow
operations. the initiation of a manual or automatic About the organisation
The data communication between the procedure to perform load-shedding or
ShoreBoX and the vessel provides high to restart the ship’s generators to prevent
added value to the operation of the shore a blackout onboard. Therefore, the data
connection system during the different communication from shore-to-ship, when
connection phases, which are the start-up, integrated in the ship power management Schneider Electric is the global
synchronisation and load transfer from system following the standard, guarantees specialist in energy management,
onboard generators to shore power, as well the operation of the shore power system providing expertise in smartgrid
as the monitoring during shore power with the expected electrical parameters development, turnkey solutions and
connection to anticipate any event on the requested by the ship, and the optimisation end-to-end services that can help you
shore side. of the power availability onboard thanks to establish a best-in-class green port
The start-up procedure allows the warning communication. operation. With its Shore Connection
the verification of the compatibility solution ShoreBoX, Schneider Electric
of the shore installation power and Conclusion enables ports and terminal operators
availability characteristics versus the The normative framework for shore to meet environmental regulations in
vessel requirements. In particular, the connection installations is today defined, the most efficient way, all while they
ShoreBoX provides voltage, frequency, and and installations according to it are optimize their costs with a full range
maximum rated power and short-circuit already implemented, such as the recently of support.
capacity data. If the conditions required inaugurated LVSC installation in Port of
by the ship are fulfilled, the start-up Bergen. Additionally, the application of the Enquiries
procedure proceeds with the choice of the IEC/IEEE/ISO 80005-2 communication
synchronisation mode. standard adds efficiency and safety to the Email: global-shore-connection@
The IEC/IEEE/ISO 80005-2 connection and disconnection operations. schneider-electric.com
standard defines three synchronisation Existing installations not yet according Website:
modes depending on who the entity is to the communication standard can be schneider-electric.com/shore-connection
mastering the synchronisation and how upgraded to it.

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