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Hamburg Tests Mobile Shore Power System

shore power

Published Aug 23, 2018 7:34 PM by The Maritime Executive

Becker Marine Systems, Hapag-Lloyd and Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) have tested a mobile power generator to provide shoreside power to ships in Hamburg.
 
The Becker LNG PowerPac has been tested on several of Hapag-Lloyd’s 20,000 TEU container ships arriving at the Container Terminal Burchardkai over the past few weeks. Developed by Becker Marine Systems and its subsidiary Hybrid Port Energy (HPE), the system is the size of two 40-foot containers. The unit comprises a gas-powered generator and an LNG tank, which provides the energy for the generator. 

As soon as a container ship docks, a container gantry crane lifts the mobile 1.5-megawatt power generator from the quay into position at the stern of the ship. It is then connected to the ship’s power system to supply electricity for onboard operations while the ship is docked. This reduces SOx, NOx and particulate matter emissions that would normally be generated if the ship was running on auxiliary diesel.
 
The Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure awarded a seven-figure sum to fund the development of the new technology as part of the government’s mobility and fuel strategy. HHLA, Hamburg’s largest terminal operator, defined the technical and process-related requirements for both ship-side handling and the handling of the PowerPac.

HHLA is taking other measures to reduce air emissions and has recently ordered 10 new straddle carriers from Kalmar, part of Cargotec. Nine of the straddle carriers will have diesel-electric powertrains and one will be a Kalmar hybrid straddle carrier which features a maintenance-free regenerative energy system.
 
Established in 1968, HHLA Container Terminal Burchardkai is the largest facility for container handling in the Port of Hamburg. The terminal has an annual capacity of more than three million TEU. In the first half of 2018, HHLA recorded a 1.2 percent increase in container throughput.

Overall in the Port of Hamburg,  container throughput at 4.3 million TEU was slightly – 2.7 percent – lower for the first half of this year than in the previous year. Handling of fewer empty boxes was the cause of 81 percent of the fall.