The Swedish government is helping finance a demonstration project integrated with two new tankers under construction in China that will enable ships to eliminate emissions upon arrival and departure from port, as well as during dockside operations. Terntank builds the ships with batteries, while the Port of Gothenburg is also making a one-of-a-kind facility to provide shore power to tankers when they are docked.

Terntank told Swedish media outlet Sjöfarts Tidningen that the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, through its investment fund Klimatklivet dedicated to continuing efforts to reduce emissions, has awarded a grant for the hybrid solution. In addition to the dual-fuel machines that can run on liquid biogas or natural gas, the two new 15,000 dwt tankers will each be equipped with a DC Link battery storage system and shore power connections. The battery pack will provide 420 kW of power and can also serve as a back-up power source when the vessel is at sea.

According to the company, the combination of these systems will eliminate emissions from auxiliary machinery when maneuvering to port and handling cargo. Line executives told the outlet they plan to save about 1,000 operating hours per year for auxiliary machinery, resulting in an estimated combined reduction of more than one million carbon dioxide equivalents from batteries and shore power.

Both tankers are built by China Merchants Jinling Shipyard in Yangzhou. Construction of the first began in late 2020 and the second in May 2021. Each of the vessels will be 482 feet long and will operate in the Baltic and North Seas.

The shore power supply will be part of the Energy Port initiative in Gothenburg, which will expand its shore power grid to meet the needs of tankers. According to port officials, “The Energy Port will be the first energy port in the world with this particular offer. It is estimated that the shore power supply at the Energy Port will reduce the carbon emissions of ships by 1,800 tonnes per year.

Gothenburg oil terminal to start supplying shore power in 2023 (Gothenburg port)

The investment in shore power to the energy port of the port of Gothenburg is also partly funded by Klimatklivet, which has granted the port more than $ 1 million to support the expansion of its shore power network to to meet the high power demands of oil tankers. Shore power will be available at the oil terminal in 2023. The port of Gothenburg was one of the first ports in the world to offer shore power to ships. Onshore electricity is now available at the Stena Line berths and at two of the berths at Roro Terminal in Gothenburg.

The port of Gothenburg is also part of a larger initiative announced by a grouping of northern European ports to extend and coordinate their shore power supplies. The aim is to provide consistent shore power technology, allowing container ships moving between ports to have a compatible system for all their operations in the port.

There is growing interest in the use of batteries to provide near operating power from more segments of the shipping industry. North Sea and Baltic Sea ferry operators, among others, are working to incorporate this capability into new builds.