The Port of Kristiansand in cooperation with the Danish company PowerCon (www.powercon.dk) , and the local energy company Agder Energi Nett (www.aenett.no) are establishing Europe’s largest shore power facility in the port. The project is co-financed by the European Union and the Horizon 2020 SME programme for research and innovation. The shore power system is of such a scale that even the world’s largest cruise ships can connect and shut down their engines while at berth. The system will be installed and tested during the 2018 cruise season and it will be fully operational as of late summer 2018.
The Port of Kristiansand has made significant investments on shore power supply over the last years and sees the project as a potential game changer in the cruise industry. What makes the shore power system unique is the frequency converter that can provide the ships with both 50 and 60 Hz, depending on the ships demand. The system is integrated in a total of 8 20¨ containers that can deliver up to 16 MVA electrical energy and in accordance with the international high voltage IEC 80005-1 standard. PowerCon is developing the facility and has over recent years delivered a range of shore power systems to a number of Norwegian ports.
The total investment has a budget of approximately 4 million euro, co-financed by the European Union and the Horizon 2020 SME programme. The project will be an important contributor to the achievement of the EU target of shore power supply in all important European ports by 2025. It firmly establishes the Port of Kristiansand as a front-runner in shore power technology.