Green Port "Artifact" - Ship Shore Power

      In 1989, the world's first low-voltage shore power system began construction at Gothenburg Port in Sweden, marking the beginning of international shore power system construction.

      In 2000, the world's first high-voltage shore power system was built at the port.

      In 2008, the world's first high-voltage variable frequency shore power system was built at the Port of Antwerp in Belgium.

      In 2017, the Ministry of Transport of China released the "Port Power Layout Plan", marking the beginning of the construction of domestic shore power highways. As of the end of 2019, more than 5400 sets of port shore power facilities have been built nationwide, covering over 7000 berths. Most of China's major ports have achieved coverage of shore power supply systems.

      China is a major port country in the world, and the carbon emissions and other pollutant emissions from ships within the port area cannot be underestimated. Green port construction is an important component of achieving the dual carbon goals in the transportation sector. The economically effective and fast way to achieve zero carbon emissions for ships anchored in ports is to use shore power.

      With the development of the economy, as a hub for waterway transportation, ports not only bring convenience to trade and transportation, but also bring environmental pollution problems to ports due to docked ships. To accelerate the construction of green ports and achieve the "dual carbon" goal, the National Energy Group and the Green Port have a "miracle tool" - ship shore power system.

      Shore power system refers to the system that supplies power to ships from the port during their normal operation and berthing, including onboard devices and shore based devices. The shore power system is divided into high-voltage shore power system and low-voltage shore power system with a voltage of 1KV as the dividing line. The main voltage levels used for low-voltage shore power in the industry are 380V/50Hz or 440V/60Hz, while the voltage levels used for high-voltage shore power are 6KV/50Hz, 6.6KV/60Hz, or 11KV/60Hz. The working principle of shore power system is relatively simple, which is to send power from the shore power supply system (i.e. shore based device) to the ship's power receiving system (i.e. ship mounted device) through the ship shore interaction part.

                          

      The onshore power supply system converts the power supply of the power grid into the voltage and frequency level required by docked ships through transformers, converters, and isolation transformers, and finally sends it to the terminal junction box (as shown in the figure below). It is worth mentioning that the inverter in shore based devices is a product developed based on power device frequency conversion technology and is the core equipment in shore power supply systems.

      The ship's power receiving system is a part of the ship's power distribution system. Ships with shore power systems generally have AMPS markings on their classification certificates. It mainly consists of cable winches, shipborne transformers, and electrical management systems. The electrical management system should have functions such as voltage indication, polarity or phase sequence (three-phase AC) detection, emergency shutdown, safety interlock, load transfer, short circuit protection, reverse power protection, etc.

      For the construction layout of ship shore power, IMO and relevant domestic departments have issued relevant conventions and laws and regulations. The "Guidelines for Safe Operation of Shore Power for International Navigation Ships" submitted by China at the 98th General Meeting of the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC98) were approved at the MSC103 meeting after multiple rounds of discussion, providing guidance for shore power operations in the international industry.

                     

      There are also some issues in the process of advancing shore power. For example, there are few ships with power receiving facilities, high initial investment and low profit margins in ports, low economic efficiency of shore power use, inconsistent interface standards, and high costs of ship renovation. In response to the above issues, relevant departments have also introduced targeted policies. For example, providing certain subsidies for shore power renovation to docks, ship owners or operators, adopting preferential electricity prices, modifying relevant technical rules to require mandatory installation of shore power equipment on some types of ships, and refining interface standards.

      In the foreseeable future, hydrogen power, hydrogen fuel cell power, and lithium battery power will not become mainstream propulsion sources. Even if LNG power becomes the mainstream propulsion power, it cannot achieve the goal of zero carbon emissions after berthing. Therefore, achieving zero carbon emissions during berthing, shore power is the most feasible solution. For some ships navigating domestically and inland rivers, there are newly revised technical inspection rules that require shore power installation. However, due to limitations in manufacturing and modification cycles, ships with power receiving equipment will need several years to operate in large quantities. This is a dividend period for future shore power supporting manufacturers and a new content for subsequent maritime department supervision. After vigorously promoting the construction of port shore based power supply infrastructure in recent years, the onshore shore power construction has been basically completed. With the comprehensive promotion of hardware facilities, it is believed that China's vision of a green port will be realized in a few years.

      If you happen to need shore power systems, please feel free to contact DEYUAN MARINE at any time.