Actemium: New onshore power facility in Vlaardingen ready for use

Dutch company Actemium Nederland has provided an onshore power supply (OPS) installation for Rotterdam Shore Power (RSP), a joint venture between energy company Eneco and the Port of Rotterdam Authority.

The shore power installation was commissioned for DFDS JinLing roll-on-roll-off (RoRo) vessels servicing a route to and from Immingham.

Located at the DFDS terminal in Vlaardingen, the shore power facility consists of a converted 40-foot container containing electrical equipment that makes electricity from the public power grid suitable for use aboard the vessels.

The shore power installation has a capacity of 1.8 MW (the energy equivalent of nearly 1,500 households) and is expected to provide 3.5 GWh per year of electricity. The estimated CO2 reduction resulting from the investment is approximately 2,100 tons per year.

Shortly, part of the DFDS fleet of ships that dock in Vlaardingen will receive electricity via the new shore power facility.

“After a year of meticulous planning, engineering and collaboration with various sub-suppliers, we started civil works and the construction of the container in our workshop in Goes in September 2023,” Actemium said in a LinkedIn update.

“We are proud to announce that we have successfully completed the final tests at the end of February.”

The installation, which marks Actemium’s first OPS project, has been partially subsidized by the Dutch central government and the province of South Holland.

Specifically, DFDS purchases the green shore power from Rotterdam Shore Power which also owns the shore power installation. The green electricity supplied by Eneco comes from Eneco Dutch Wind & Solar sources.

The port authority and Eneco want to stimulate the use of shore-based power in the Port of Rotterdam. In early 2022, Europe’s largest shore power installation was commissioned — the installation for Heerema Marine Contractors’ offshore vessels on Landtong Rozenburg.

In November 2023, Boskalis commissioned a large-scale shore power facility at its premises in the Waalhaven in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Since last year, moored Boskalis’ vessels can switch off their diesel-powered generators and use green shore power.

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• Rotterdam backs shore power projects with fresh funding
• Rotterdam on track to becoming truly sustainable port
• Study: EU must triple or quadruple installed shore power by 2030