100 Shore Power Connections

 

AIDAnova is the 100th shore power connection of the season - PORT OF KIEL is the first German port to reach an important milestone for sustainable maritime tourism and its own sustainability goals.

(Kiel, 25th September 2024) On Wednesday, the AIDAnova called at Kiel's Ostseekai - and created a special moment with its connection to the shore power system there: She marked the one hundredth cruise ship to be connected to the PORT OF KIEL's shore power facilities this year. This has never happened before in a German port. Almost 70 per cent of ocean-going cruise ships have used Kiel's shore power facilities so far this season.

‘At the beginning of the year, our declared goal was to connect one hundred cruise ships - and we are very pleased that we have now achieved this before the end of the season,’ says Dr Dirk Claus, Managing Director of SEEHAFEN KIEL GmbH & Co. KG. ‘While half of the connections last year were still for technical preparation tests, 85 per cent of the connections are now pure standard supply. This makes it clear that the development of shore-based power supply for seagoing vessels into a standardised technology can work. Particularly in view of the national environmental targets in the maritime sector, we can say: Kiel is well prepared and our shore power strategy of recent years is paying off. By 2025, we will have invested around 55 million euros in our plants.’

In addition to shipping companies such as AIDA, TUI, MSC and Costa, the vessels of Hapag-Lloyd, Holland America Line and Phoenix Reisen also use the shore power facilities in the port of Kiel. A third of the one hundred connections are made via the newly built facility at the Ostuferhafen, which went into regular operation for the first time this year and regularly supplies the MSC Euribia and Costa Diadema.

 

AIDA x shore power

The fact that the hundredth shore power call is made by the AIDAnova is a coincidence, but also symbolic: AIDA Cruises is not only the shipping company with the largest presence on the fjord, but also the leader in the use of Kiel's shore power infrastructure with a total of 41 connections.

It was the first shipping company to commit to the use of environmentally friendly shore power while berthing in Kiel and signed a corresponding declaration of intent together with the PORT OF KIEL in 2018. With the AIDAsol, AIDA became the first cruise ship operator to use shore power in Kiel in 2021. AIDAprima, AIDAbella, AIDAluna and AIDAnova followed in the years that ensued. Out of the total of one hundred uses of the shore power system by cruise ships this year, 54 are accounted for by the Carnival Corporation, which includes AIDA, Costa Cruises and Holland America Line, among others.

 

Felix Eichhorn, President of AIDA Cruises, explains: ‘Together with the PORT OF KIEL, we have worked intensively on the shore power strategy over many years and have achieved continuous progress. The PORT OF KIEL recognised the potential of shore-side power supply early on and made corresponding investments. The milestone achieved today is the result of our joint
efforts as partners to make cruise shipping more sustainable.’

 

PORT OF KIEL – the shore power port

In recent years, the PORT OF KIEL has set itself the goal of successively bringing all shore power-capable ships into standard supply at the Kiel facilities. On average, cruise ships require between one and three calls in order to successfully pass all the necessary pre-operational technical tests. This year alone, ten cruise ships were integrated and brought into the regular supply. In recent years, 22 cruise ships have successfully undergone or completed the technical tests in the port of Kiel and can therefore draw regular electricity from the corresponding shore power plant when they call at the port. With a regular supply, the cruise ships use the shore-side electricity for the entire time they are berthed, on average approx. 8 - 10 hours. The PORT OF KIEL purchases the green electricity for the facilities on the spot market.

 

With shore power facilities at all major ferry and cruise terminals and parallel supply capacities for up to two cruise ships and four ferries, the port of Kiel is one of the international pioneers in the field of shore power. An expansion of the facility at the Ostseekai is also currently being planned, which will enable the parallel supply of three cruise ships in the port of Kiel in 2025. Shore power infrastructure in ports is considered an important component of greener sea tourism and is a prerequisite for low-emission travel. According to the CLIA, only 20 cruise ports worldwide currently maintain shore power supply facilities. ###