More and more cruise ships are being built or retrofitted with shore power facilities so that they can largely switch off their own machinery in ports, eliminating local emissions from ships while they are in port. It also supports the overall cruise industry efforts to cut CO2 emissions, which can represent between 6% and 10% of the overall CO2 emissions of a cruise vessel.
Already, 35% of the global capacity of cruise ships is equipped with shore power connections. However, less than 20 ports worldwide currently provide shore power for large cruise ships – three of these are in Germany.
The industry encourages port authorities to invest in sustainable shore power infrastructure as well and that shore power is produced from green, renewable sources.
Not only German ports are continuing to expand their shore power capacities, but massive investments are also planned in other countries, e.g. in the Mediterranean region. Over the next five years, about 7% of berths will be equipped with shore power facilities, globally. As part of the EU’s Fit for 55 programme, all essential ports in the European Union will have to use shoreside electricity by 2030. CLIA is encouraging ports where cruise ships are scheduled to dock to prioritise the investment in shore power supply facilities at the cruise berths.
Helge Grammerstorf, National Director, CLIA Germany
“Cruise lines are committed to connecting to shoreside electricity when it is available and to working closely with ports to make this possible. Connecting a large cruise ship with a power consumption of up to 12 megawatts to the shore power grid is not as simple as it sounds. In addition to a technical infrastructure including a power plant, supply lines and conversion equipment, various tests and synchronisation measures are required to ensure uninterrupted ship operations. This procedure must be repeated for every ship in every port before the permanent connection can be made,” explains Helge Grammerstorf, National Director of the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA).
CLIA members are committed to working with ports and local authorities to support these projects. So far, however, more cruise ships are equipped with shore power connections than there are ports internationally that offer this option. CLIA is encouraging all ports to consider equipping their cruise berths with this capability, to the benefit of their local population and to support the decarbonisation of the maritime sector.