Stena Line Ferry Connects to Shore Power in Oslo

Stena Line became the first ferry company to connect to shore power in the Port of Oslo on Tuesday, when Stena Saga began connecting to the electricity grid during calls into port. 

Stena Line, with 38 vessels and 21 routes in Northern Europe, has been working with shore power supply connections since 1989. With Stena Saga, 14 of Stena Line's vessels can now connect to green electricity when in port.

“The completion of yet another onshore power supply connection in the Port of Oslo is an important milestone in our efforts to reduce emissions, and we are now closing in on our target of connecting 25 percent of our terminals in 2020. Many of our vessels call at locations close to cities which makes it especially important to be able to shut down engines when docked,” says Erik Lewenhaupt, Head of Sustainability, Brand and Communication at Stena Line.

The Port of Oslo is Norway's leading cargo and ferry port, with 50 to 70 calls of cargo and passenger ships each week. Half of the Norwegian population lives less than a three hour drive from the Port of Oslo, and the shore power supply connection will be used by ferries operated by both Stena Line and DFDS. Each year nearly 1.3 million passengers travel with DFDS and Stena Line to Denmark. The ships also carry large quantities of goods.

From the power station at Vippetangen, electric power goes to the ferries' electrical systems. The ferries connect seamlessly to the grid with the help of a cable crane. The crane is equipped with an 11kV high voltage cable. Diesel powered auxiliary engines on board can be shut down while the ferries are powered by clean electricity. The power requirement of the ferries is about 2-3MW. That's almost 60 times more power than today's fast chargers for electric cars. 

The shore power connection is expected to result in a saving of just over 1,400 tons of fuel for the visiting ferries each year (equivalent to the CO2 emissions of 1,300 cars). When the ferries are connected to shore power, they annually use between 5,000 000 – 6,000 000 kWh. This corresponds to the annual power consumption of almost 400 Norwegian homes. 

The Port of Oslo is becoming a zero emission port, and it aims to reduce 85 percent of its CO2 emission by 2030.