Port of Tallinn will install the latest ABB shore power systems on five of its piers in the Old City Harbour as part of the first shore power project in Estonia, the aim of which is to supply the vessels that visit the port with shore electricity and thus reduce emissions and noise created by the ships' engines.
"The Tallinn Old City Harbour is one of the busiest ports in a capital city in Europe, so installing shore power facilities in the harbour is an important step forward in reducing the environmental impact of shipping on the city," Valdo Kalm, CEO of the Port of Tallinn said. "Considering the improved air quality and reduced noise pollution, this project is great news for all the citizens and visitors of Tallinn, but also for the ship operators, who can positively contribute to the development of the city environment through this project," Kalm added.
"ABB is the leading shore power systems provider for 20 years already and we currently have the best portfolio of these products on the market," Jukka Patrikainen, Regional Manager for ABB Baltics said. "It is an honor to partner with the Port of Tallinn in the installation of the first solution of this kind in Estonia and to contribute to this ground-breaking project with ABB's technical capability," Patrikainen concluded.
The technical solution installed in the Port of Tallinn is the most modern shore-to-ship system of its kind, provided by ABB and it creates the possibility to connect the vessel to shore power with an 11kV voltage. To guarantee safety, the system is fitted with a duplicated control mechanism, which guarantees that high voltage will switch off in all emergency situations. There is no need for onshore personnel for connecting the ship to the shore power facility – the ship’s crew will navigate the cable crane on the pier to the ship's shore power reception facility with remote control and will connect the cable with the ship's equipment. The ship's electricity will not be interrupted during the connecting or the disconnecting process.
In accordance with the agreement, ABB will supply the shore with switchgear, the automation system and the engineering needed to run the entire project. For the first time in this project, ABB new equipment is used in Estonia: UniGear ZS1 shore power medium-voltage switchgear, innovative universal relay protection terminal REX640 and as central processing for automation an RTU540 unit.
The first pier will have the shore power facilities ready by the end of this year and the first vessels to be connected to the shore power in Tallinn Old City Harbour will be Tallink Grupp’s Tallinn-Stockholm route vessels. The next vessels to be connected to shore power in the first half of 2020 will be the Estonia-Finland route vessels operating from the Old City Harbour.
"According to our calculations, a ship that uses green shore power for at least 7 hours per day while docked in port, will generate 120 tonnes less CO2 per month. The air quality will also improve generally when the ship's engines are stopped, with fewer emissions and particle matter being emitted into the air in the port area," captain Tarvi-Carlos Tuulik, Tallink Group Chief Captain and Head of Ship Management, commented. "We have already taken a step towards using shore power with our vessels in the Port of Stockholm, thus significantly improving the air quality in this capital city," he added.
The Port of Tallinn carried out an international tender process for the installation of shore power facilities for five of the Old City Harbour piers (piers number 3, 5, 7, 12 and 13) and the successful tenderer was AS Elero. The substation equipment and automation will be supplied by ABB and the remote controlled crane required for the electrical connection will be supplied by an Estonian company Scaleup Plc.
The project, which is implemented in partnership with ship operators, is co-funded by the European Union TWIN-PORT 3 project. The total cost of the project is EUR 3.5 million.
The Port of Tallinn, Port of Helsinki, Port of Stockholm and Port of Turku signed a Memorandum of Understanding in 2016, according to which the busiest ports around the Baltic Sea located in city centres will develop shore power facilities in the ports based on a common standard.
Photos: Raul Mee
