FINLAND – NORWAY – RoPax specialist shipping group Finnlines and Yara Marine Technologies have signed a contract to install the Norwegian group's shore power solution on board three of its vessels. The turnkey solution will allow these vessels to connect to the local power grid when in port, switching to electricity rather than using auxiliary engines running on fuel.
The use of shore power by ships is particularly beneficial to portside communities, whose quality of life is impacted by concentrated emissions by numerous vessels in port, as well as the associated noise and vibrations from ship engines. RoRo vessels and passenger ferries are very suitable candidates for this technology due to their operational profile.
As an early adopter of shore power solutions, Finnlines is following through on its commitment to meeting customer demands for more environmentally conscious services and the installations, which are scheduled for completion in 2022, will help Finnlines eliminate shipboard emissions in port and thus reduce its environmental footprint. Thomas Doepel, COO of Finnlines, commented:
“Finnlines is committed to providing sustainable and responsible transportation options in the Baltic and North Seas. Our investment in smart technologies showcases our drive to reduce carbon emissions from our fleet and share our environmental performance with customers and stakeholders. By equipping these vessels with a shore-to-ship connection, we commit to our goal of reducing harmful emissions and noise while at port. This has a direct impact on quality of life for those present in areas close to our ports.”
The recent signing of a joint commitment for the electrification of ports by 2028 by a number of government ministers and port authorities at the One Ocean Summit (held in France in February) demonstrates a clear industry recognition of shore power as a potential route to enable decarbonisation targets while allowing for cleaner, lower-impact energy solutions for stopovers. This is particularly relevant when a supply of renewable energy is readily available.
However, setting up shore power solutions can be technically challenging, particularly in cases where operators are using two or three different systems on board that are not compatible with each other. Yara Marine’s claims its turnkey shore power solution is designed to provide an answer to this issue, thereby reducing the complexity of installation, and mitigating project-related risks, such as fleet-wide installations.
In addition, Yara Marine boasts that its after-sales and service capabilities ensure that customers will see both cost and time benefits for the lifetimes of their installations, with Aleksander Askeland, CSO of the Oslo headquartered company saying:
“Yara Marine Technologies is keen to support cleaner and sustainable operations throughout the maritime industry. We look forward to working with Finnlines to provide solutions that will maximize benefits across the board. We bring our extensive experience in planning and executing multiple vessel installations to this collaboration, and will be managing their needs for the lifetimes of the shore power solutions through our global after-sales service organisation.”
Photo: MS Finnlady is one of three Finnlines vessels that will be equipped with Yara Marine's shore power solution.
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