Electrical shore-to-ship power of ferries at berth
La Méridionale, committed to a sustainable development approach, invested in the French shore-to-ship power solution (CENAQ) in 2017, to manage its business in an eco-friendly way. Today, all our ferries to Corsica reduce their environmental footprint during their stop-overs in Marseille.
The new commitment of our ferries to Corsica
A ship at berth for 12 hours uses the equivalent of the electricity consumption of 300 homes. This energy is used to supply electrical equipment, such as engines, refrigerators, lights, etc. It is traditionally produced by power generators running on diesel. As well as being polluting, these machines are noisy, vibrate and produce pollutant particles.
To tackle these annoyances and to manage its business in an eco-friendly way, La Méridionale joined forces with Marseille-Fos Port. The shipping company started investing in the shore-to-ship power (SSP) solution for ships at berth in 2016.
In 2017, it was the first, and only, shipping company in the Mediterranean to use the French SSP (CENAQ) solution for its ferries to Corsica.
How does shore-to-ship power work for ferries at berth in Marseille?
To enable ships to Corsica to use the shore-supplied power, a transformer converts shore-based electricity into usable current on-board. Although the technical implementation of the project brought about many challenges, quayside manoeuvring is simple.
When a ferry heading to Corsica arrives in the port of Marseille, it is connected to the shore power grid by a remotely-guided arm located on the quay and by a connection panel, on-board the ship. Before leaving for Ajaccio or Porto-Vecchio, the socket that links the berthed ship is disconnected and the boat recovers its energy autonomy.
SSP (CENAQ): a solution that eliminates polluting emissions
Since January 2017, our ro-ro (aka ro-pax) ships (Girolata and Piana) are supplied with electricity from the high-voltage grid, directly from the quay. For each of these ferries to Corsica, this eliminates the equivalent in particulate matter (PM10) and CO2 emissions of over 3,000 vehicles/day* and 65,000 other vehicles/day for nitrogen oxides (NOx) [source: AirPaca]
This eco-friendly solution also gets rid of noise and vibrations generated by engines. Shore-to-ship power improves on-board working conditions as well as environmental quality for port-side residents.
And, last but not least, it also means lower fuel consumption and lower maintenance and servicing costs.
The French CENAQ solution is a sustainable solution for managing the Mediterranean crossings our company operates.
Solution for Corsica?
(*) Vehicles making an Aix to Marseille round trip (64 km)
CENAQ: an environmentally friendly solution for Corsica
In the Corsican ports of Ajaccio and Porto-Vecchio, where La Méridionale calls, connection to the electricity grid is not possible for technical reasons. Air Flow, a company based in Rousset, has therefore devised an innovative solution using liquefied natural gas: “LNG is transported and stored in refrigerated containers at -161 degrees, so that it remains in liquid form. Before being used, the gas is brought to ambient temperature using an atmospheric heater and then fed into the generator, which burns it to produce electricity,” explains Emilien Doye, Project Manager for “ship electrification” at Air Flow.
The solution was tested for fifteen days at the port of Ajaccio in 2018: “This tried-and-tested technology is used by many industries and is subject to stringent safety regulations. It poses no danger to the environment or local residents. The trial is being carried out with the approval of all the relevant safety authorities,” emphasises Christophe Seguinot, Technical Director at La Méridionale.
A secure, bespoke solution
