Vopak joins feasibility study for shore power use at Port of Rotterdam

Dutch power company Eneco and the Port of Rotterdam Authority, united in Rotterdam Shore Power BV, have agreed with port operator Vopak Terminal Europoort to conduct a feasibility study for the use of shore-based power at the terminal.

An installation has been constructed on the Rozenburg Penisula in Rotterdam allowing Heerema Marine Contractors’ large vessels to shut down their diesel generators and switch to power from the wind turbines on the peninsula.

The shore-based power installation will be commissioned in the first quarter of 2021.

Vopak Europoort is located on the opposite side of the Calandkanaal of Heerema’s berth. As explained, the aim of the study is to establish whether and how the installation that now stands on the peninsula can also be deployed for Vopak Europort terminal where large tankers berth.

Connecting vessels of this kind to shore-based power poses several significant technical challenges and is therefore hardly done anywhere else in the world. It is hoped that the feasibility study that Vopak and Rotterdam Shore Power are currently conducting will find effective technical and commercial solutions to these challenges and that they may set an international standard.

Specifically, Vopak and Rotterdam Shore Power’s study focuses on safety as well as the project’s technical and economic feasibility — what is needed to realize it, how much will it cost and how much will it yield? The study is scheduled to be completed in the summer of 2021.

“We are very excited about working with our partners on developing the concept. This could result in significant reductions in emissions at ports,” Timo Spaninks, Managing Director of Vopak Europoort, commented.

A key benefit of shore-based power is that less nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter and CO2 are released into the atmosphere. This reduces air pollution and combats climate change. Shore-based power also has the potential to reduce the noise of ships’ engines.

Last year, the Port of Rotterdam Authority and the City of Rotterdam announced a joint shore-based power strategy. Its objective is for eight to ten shore-based power projects to be completed before 2025, so that stakeholders can learn from them and roll-out shore-based power on a large scale in the Port of Rotterdam after 2025.