The Port of Barcelona and PowerCon begin work to build the first OPS for cruise ships at the MSC terminal
The Port of Barcelona has awarded the project to Danish company PowerCon for €12,225,000.
The project kick-off meeting included a visit to the new MSC terminal, already designed to be equipped with an Onshore Power Supply (OPS) system.
The Port of Barcelona and Danish company PowerCon A/S have started working on the construction project of the Onshore Power Supply (OPS) system at the MSC terminal on Adossat wharf, the first for cruise ships in the Port of Barcelona. PowerCon was awarded the contract for this project, which will also include all necessary civil works and will roll out the cabling to the distribution centre that will be used to manage the power supply.
The first meeting was held last week between the team from the Port of Barcelona's Shorepower unit, led by its head of department Ana Arévalo, and the PowerCon team, led by Peter Castberg Knudsen, Team Manager and founding partner of the company.
During the meeting, the teams from the Port of Barcelona and PowerCon agreed on the bases for performing the construction project, in accordance with the tender, and visited the MSC terminal, where they met with terminal manager Sandra Yunta. The terminal, which opened this year, was built to be sustainable and designed to be equipped with an OPS system.
Ana Arévalo explained that “the MSC terminal OPS is scheduled to come on stream in 2027, along with the substation that we will use to deliver 100% renewable electricity to all terminals. It will be a pivotal year for electrification of the Port of Barcelona wharves.”
Nexigen
With a planned overall investment of close to €200 million, the Nexigen Plan this year entered into its key phase as both OPS systems located in the BEST and Grimaldi Terminal Barcelona terminals came on stream. These OPS, which are currently in their pilot phase, already make it possible to power the container ships arriving at BEST and the ferries that link Barcelona and Palma on a daily basis, reducing the emissions they generate and providing essential experience and knowledge for the construction of future OPS.
The project is now underway, with the construction of the new Port substation and the roll-out of a new medium-voltage network that will bring power to all the wharves on which OPS systems will be installed.
