Electrical supply to ships
The Port of Barcelona has launched an ambitious plan to develop the electrification of docks, Nexigen, and thus be able to supply electrical energy of renewable origin to ships during their stay in port. Nexigen's main goal is to achieve a 50% emissions reduction by 2030 and to be a carbon-neutral port by 2050. This plan is associated with a large investment by the Port.
Nexigen: towards a carbon-neutral Port
Nexigen contemplates a global investment of more than 200 million euros, with a clear goal: the connection of ships to the general electrical network, during berthing in the port (Onshore Power Supply, OPS), which will avoid the use of auxiliary generators. Therefore, the emissions of polluting gases from ships during berthing will be eliminated.
The electrical energy supplied will have certification of 100% renewable origin, so that greenhouse gas emissions will also be reduced.
Nexigen, the Dock Electrification Plan, is aligned with the Port of Barcelona's environmental sustainability goal, Strategic Plan 2026-2030. It is a key part of the Port of Barcelona's energy transition plan, which aims to be a carbon-neutral port by 2050.
Informative and corporate video about the Nexigen project, the Electrification Plan of the Port of Barcelona. The visual content shows images of the port, ships moored at the docks, terminals (BEST, Ferry, Adossat, Prat), electrical infrastructure, and operations connecting vessels to the onshore electrical grid. Scenes of installation work for electrical connection points at the docks, cables, and equipment for supplying electricity to ships are shown, as well as graphics or infographics illustrating the 38% reduction in NOx and CO2 tonnes emitted by ships during their stay in port. The video may include comparative images of environmental impact before and after electrification, maps of the port with marked intervention zones, and renders or simulations of the completed project. Statements from Port of Barcelona officials explaining the plan's objectives are also visible: reducing air and noise pollution and becoming a zero-emission port by 2050, with an investment of €110 million. The tone is informative, technological, and environmentally committed, with no voice-over and background music. The key message is that the first connections to the BEST and Ferry terminals are planned within two years, and that by 2030 the Adossat and Prat docks and the ferry terminals at the Sant Bertran basin and Costa dock will be electrified.
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.
Video by the Port of Barcelona (3 min 56 s) about the first OPS (Onshore Power Supply, or "cold ironing") system for container ships, installed at the Hutchison Ports BEST terminal (Barcelona Europe South Terminal). It has a Catalan voice-over, subtitled, with technical data in on-screen captions. It opens with the Port's logo and aerial views of the BEST terminal, the Hotel Vela and large container ships at berth (MSC, CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd) being worked by automated cranes, with stacks of colourful containers. It then documents the system's installation: workers (from the company PowerCon) connecting thick high-voltage cables —red and green— to switchgear and transformers, cable-laying with reels (Top Cable) and trenching, and the OPS converter modules (containers branded "nexigen / Port de Barcelona"). Data graphics accompany the footage (3,000 metres of cable, the capacity to connect two ships at once, and the supply voltage and frequency). 3D animations and maps illustrate the rollout of the port's electrical network: the future 220/25 kV substation, the underwater drilling to connect the Energy wharf and the Adossat wharf, the first cruise terminal equipped with OPS, and the OPS pilot at the ferry terminal. Intercut are graphics with the decarbonisation targets over sunset shots, terminal roofs covered with solar panels, and aerial views of the port (cruise ships, the Porta d'Europa bridge, Montjuïc and the skyline). The video closes with the "nexigen" brand ("Quality for the air, Quality for the port") and the Port of Barcelona logo with the European co-financing logos.
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.
Video by the Port of Barcelona (2 min 42 s) about the first OPS (Onshore Power Supply, or "cold ironing") system for ferries, installed at Grimaldi Terminal Barcelona. The narration is in English (with auto-generated captions only on YouTube) and the key figures appear as burned-in English text captions. It opens with the Port's logo and aerial views of Barcelona and the port, and shows the Grimaldi ferry terminal (signs "Grimaldi Trasmed" / "Grimaldi Terminal Barcelona") with the ferry "Ciudad de Palma" at berth. It then documents the electrical connection: workers in overalls and helmets handling the OPS arm and cables on the quay (captions "Onshore Power Supply (OPS)" and "Daily connections"), the ship's control rooms and electrical switchboards, and the environmental benefit "-1,000 tonnes of CO₂ per year". This is followed by footage of the infrastructure installation —electrical cabinets, "3,200 metres of cable", "First OPS for container ships in the Mediterranean"— and a technician in an orange hi-vis vest operating the system's control touchscreen (a diagram with green flow lines). Animated map graphics over aerial views explain the rollout of the port's electrical network: a new high-voltage substation under construction, underwater drilling to connect the Energy wharf and the Adossat wharf, and the first cruise terminal equipped with OPS. The video combines these explanations with aerial shots of cruise ships, the Porta d'Europa bascule bridge, the Hotel Vela and sunsets over the port, and closes with the "nexigen" brand, the Port of Barcelona's electrification programme.
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