Gothenburg port takes ‘key measure’ to enable shore power for container and RoRo ships by 2030

Sweden’s Port of Gothenburg has taken the next step to enable shore power connection for container and car/RoRo ships before 2030 by awarding a contract for the construction of a transformer station that will serve the port’s container and car terminals.

As disclosed, AF Bygg Väst, part of AF Gruppen Sweden, was awarded the contract worth approximately €11.4 million to build a transformer station with a capacity of 19 MVA (megavolt amperes) for incoming power.

Scheduled to commence in the second quarter of 2025 and be completed in March 2027, this facility, deemed a key part of infrastructure, will enable simultaneous shore power connection to five berths in the container terminal and two in the car terminal. Each output will have a capacity of 4 MVA per berth (with the option to combine two outputs into one connection point with doubled capacity).

The project is co-financed by the EU fund Connecting Europe Facility with the support of approximately €8 million.

With an onshore power supply (OPS) available at the port, the vessels can be powered by quay-side electricity instead of fossil fuels while berthed, leading to reduced emissions of carbon dioxide, sulfur oxides, and nitrogen oxides and lowering the climate footprint.

According to the Port of Gothenburg, by connecting container vessels alone, the port has the potential to reduce CO2 emissions by at least 5,600 tonnes per year.

By enabling OPS for container and car/RoRo vessels, the port will also comply with upcoming EU regulations that, starting in 2030, require ships over 5,000 gross tons to connect to OPS while at berth. OPS is already installed at the port’s Ro-Ro and Ro-Pax terminals, as well as at the Energy terminal.

Total investments for OPS in the container and car terminals, which also include cable installations and switchgear for seven berths, are estimated at around €52.8 million.

“This transformer station is an important milestone that brings us significantly closer to shore-side power connection for container and car/RoRo vessels. It enables electrical connection at a total of seven berths – five at the container terminal and two at the car terminal,” said Magnus Nordfeldt, Head of Business Area Cargo at the Port of Gothenburg.

The Swedish port recently witnessed a pilot test using a hydrogen generator to power ships with electricity. During the two-week trial, a generator running on 100% green hydrogen had been connected to Stena Line’s existing shore power facility at the Port of Gothenburg. Using green hydrogen as fuel, the generator supplied electricity to Stena Line’s vessels Stena Germanica and Stena Scandinavica while docked.

The test aimed to show how mobile hydrogen solutions could help more ports cut emissions, especially ahead of new EU regulations requiring OPS by 2030.