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 and to Morocco reduce their environmental footprint during their stop-overs in Marseille.
The new commitment of our ferries to Corsica and Morocco
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 and to Morocco 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 Morocco or 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, Tangier 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 3 ro-ro (aka ro-pax) ships (Girolata, Kalliste and Piana) are supplied with electricity from the high-voltage grid, directly from the quay. For each of these 3 ferries to Corsica and Morocco, 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 : une solution écologique pour la Corse
Dans les ports corses d’Ajaccio et de Porto-Vecchio où escale La Méridionale, le branchement au réseau électrique n’est pas possible pour des raisons techniques. L’entreprise Air Flow, basée à Rousset, a donc imaginé une solution innovante à partir du gaz naturel liquide : "Le GNL est transporté et stocké dans des conteneurs réfrigérés à -161 degrés, afin qu’il conserve sa forme liquide. Avant d’être utilisé, le gaz est porté à température ambiante au moyen d’un réchauffeur atmosphérique puis envoyé dans le groupe électrogène qui le brûle afin de produire de l’électricité." explique Emilien Doye, Responsable projet "électrification des navires" chez Air Flow.
La solution a été testée durant quinze jours sur le port d’Ajaccio en 2018 : "Cette technologie éprouvée est utilisée par de nombreuses industries et soumise à des règles de sécurité drastiques. Elle ne présente aucun danger pour l'environnement et les riverains. L’essai est réalisé avec la validation de tous les organismes compétents en matière de sécurité" souligne Christophe Seguinot, Directeur Technique de La Méridionale.
Une solution sur-mesure sécurisée
