Electrical supply to ships

OPS BEST

The Onshore Power Supply (OPS) at Hutchison Ports BEST container terminal is the first dock electrification system installed at the Port of Barcelona. The equipment, the first in a container terminal at a Mediterranean port, allows the supply of 100% renewable electricity to ships, enabling them to stop their engines while at the Port of Barcelona and thus reduce their emissions.

Installed alongside the terminal expansion works, the construction of the OPS involved the deployment of a medium voltage network with 3,000 meters of cable to the dock edge, where three connection boxes specifically designed to be compatible with the terminal's operations have been installed. These connection points, combined with the OPS's capacity to supply up to 8MW of power, allow two ships to connect simultaneously.

The new OPS system, operational since summer 2024, was manufactured in Denmark by PowerCon according to the specific needs of the Port of Barcelona. Once ships deploy their cables to the dock and connect to the connection points, it can adapt the electrical current from the 25,000 volts of tension it receives from the network to the 6,600 volts needed by container ships, modulating the frequency to 50 or 60Hz, depending on the specific needs of each ship.

This flexible system ensures that the maximum number of connections can be made with the different ships arriving at BEST, taking full advantage of the OPS's potential. In the first two years of OPS operation, during which it will be in a pilot phase, around 92 connections will be made. This will eliminate 2,500 tons of CO2 annually, equivalent to about 135,000 cars driving 30 kilometers daily for a year. From the third year onwards, the forecast is to progressively increase annual connections, with the corresponding increase in emission reductions.

OPS Grimaldi

This OPS for ferries at Grimaldi Terminal Barcelona supplies daily 100% renewable electricity to ferries connecting Barcelona with the Balearic Islands, allowing them to stop their engines and eliminating the emissions and noise they generate while at port. The commissioning of the OPS for ferries completes the first phase of the Nexigen dock electrification plan, which will reduce port activity emissions by 47%.

The OPS installation has been coordinated with Grimaldi Logística España, designing the various systems that integrate it to make them compatible with the terminal's daily operations. In parallel, Trasmed, the Spanish shipping company of the Grimaldi Group, has adapted its ships Ciudad de Palma and Ciudad de Sóller to make them compatible with the system, so they are already connecting and stopping their engines during their stops at the Port of Barcelona.

The OPS, manufactured by Vinci Energies in France, combines a fixed installation, which adapts the frequency and voltage of the electrical current to the specific needs of each ship, with a mobile system manufactured by Shore Link in Estonia that makes the connection possible without interfering with dock operations. The current system allows a single ship to connect, but the installation has been designed to be easily expandable so that two ships can connect simultaneously at the two docking points of the Sant Bertran dock.

The ability to connect daily the two ships covering the Barcelona-Palma line will multiply the positive impact of the new system. Stopping the engines during their stay at the Port of Barcelona, these ships will stop emitting an average of 6.14 tons of CO2 per stop. This means eliminating 2,090 tons of CO2 annually.

The proximity of the terminal to the city, located next to the Drassanes square and less than 200 meters from the first homes in Poble-sec, increases the positive impact of this system for the citizens, improving air quality in Barcelona and reducing the noise generated by ship operations.