Stena Line, Port of Trelleborg Start With Onshore Power Supply

As the first ferry company in the Swedish Port of Trelleborg, Stena Line will now be connecting up its two vessels M/S Skåne and M/S Mecklenburg-Vorpommern to the electricity grid during their calls at the port.

At present, four of the company’s six ports in Sweden are now connected to the local electricity grid. Throughout Stena Line’s route network, 17 percent of the ports are connected.

“We … have completed yet another onshore power supply connection together with the Port of Trelleborg. Sustainability is one of the cornerstones of our strategy and this is an important contribution to our efforts in reducing emissions and cutting down on noise in port,” Niclas Mårtensson, Stena Line’s CEO, commented.

“On many of our ferry routes, our vessels call at locations close to cities and this makes it especially important to be able to shut off the engines when docked. Planning work is underway to enable us to connect vessels in more of our ports. The objective is for 25 percent of the ports we use to have an electrical connection by 2020 and 75 percent by 2030,” Mårtensson added.

At the ports where Stena Line has an onshore power supply, vessels connect up to the electricity grid when docked for more than two hours. Stena Line’s vessels in Trelleborg are docked for more than two hours ten out of sixteen times per week and will connect up to the electricity grid at these times, according to the company.

The connection means that the machinery on board is completely shut down, bringing emissions down to practically zero, and for maximum total environmental gain green electricity is used, which is also the case in Trelleborg. In 2016, all Stena Line’s electrical connections in port contributed to a reduction in CO2 emissions of 12,500 tons, which equates to the annual consumption of 6,500 average passenger cars.

Installation of electrical connections is a major investment, with the port generally paying for the onshore installation and the shipping company paying for onboard installation.

“It’s really great that Stena Line has decided to connect two of its vessels to the onshore power supply at the Port of Trelleborg. The work and planning for the installation have taken several years and the Port of Trelleborg received a grant from the EU for the investment, which will reduce both emissions and noise from docked vessels,” Jörgen Nilsson, Stena Line’s CEO, noted.