Port of Amsterdam tests shore power for short-sea vessels

The Dutch Port of Amsterdam is trialing shore power for short-sea vessels in an effort to become more sustainable.

On 8 and 9 February, the first test took place at VCK Logistics’ Waterland Terminal, a multimodal facility.

Norwegian shipping company Wilson moored its cargo ship Wilson Goole at the terminal. The 3,700 dwt ship received power via SKOON’s battery.

The battery test can be seen as another step towards a more sustainable shipping industry. It can supply green energy anywhere in Amsterdam and is then filled with local wind energy from Windpark Ruigoord or with energy from biomass from AEB. With this, it is capable of supplying 630 kWh of electricity. This equates to at least twelve hours of shore power.

As explained, the test shows that it is possible to provide large ships with energy on a regular basis by means of a battery. On locations with a small grid connection, up to 550 kW of peak power can be supplied for longer periods. This has recently been done in cooperation with the Shared Energy Platform (SEP). SEP is an initiative of the Port of Amsterdam to increase the available capacity in the electricity grid.

The Port of Amsterdam added that it is not easy to connect large vessels to shore power. This requires certain modifications to the ships.

Wilson Eurocarriers sails to Amsterdam on a weekly basis and has already made modifications to 80 of its 126 ships.

“We think it is important to make optimal use of the possibilities of shore power. Hopefully, this will soon become the standard in all ports. We believe that the sustainability of ports will increase rapidly and we are happy to contribute to this. We are very happy that we were able to do this pilot in Amsterdam,” Robert Bravenboer, Director at Wilson Agency, commented.

“We value the importance of innovation and sustainability. The battery test is a nice concrete example of this,” Peter Loonen, Managing Director of VCK Group, said.

“It’s important to us that we continue to invest in the future to ensure that we can provide more of these types of ships with energy in a sustainable way.”

Clean shipping is an important spearhead in the 2021 – 2025 strategy of the Port of Amsterdam.

One concrete example of how the port is working towards this is the provision of shore power at locations within the ‘ring’ road. This is already possible for inland navigation and river cruise ships, the port said.

The Port of Amsterdam now wants to expand this further for a wide range of vessels at the various terminals.