Port of Kiel invests in solar power to become climate neutral

Germany’s Port of Kiel is increasing its own production of climate-friendly solar energy as it equipped its cruise terminal Ostseekai with photovoltaic modules.

At the beginning of August 2021, almost 300 photovoltaic modules were installed at the cruise terminal, on the roof of the 175-meter-long gangway to the northern berth.

The output of each PV panel is 335 watts so that the calculated system output is nearly 100 kWp in total.

The system can go into operation as soon as it has been approved by the authorities, according to the port.

As informed, depending on the weather, about 90,000 kWh of green electricity can be generated per year. This is roughly equivalent to the annual consumption of 30 private households.

However, it is planned to use 80 per cent of the generated solar energy for the self-consumption of the transformers of the neighbouring on-shore power plant as well as for the LED façade. The remaining energy is fed into the public grid.

Together with the existing photovoltaic systems in the Ostuferhafen, the Port of Kiel already generates about 300,000 kWh of electricity from solar energy every year.

This is said to represent another step on the way to a climate-neutral operation of the port.

In December last year, the Port of Kiel — which is suited for both passenger and cargo shipping — inaugurated a new shore power facility at Ostseekai in an effort to reduce hundreds of tons of CO2 emissions and become one of the greenest ports in Europe.

The facility enables two vessels to take eco-power at once — i.e. a cruise ship and a ferry.

In May 2019, the Port of Kiel also opened its first shore-based power supply plant for commercial vessels at the Norwegenkai. This enabled Color Line’s big cruise-ferries docking in the port to be supplied with emission-free electric power.