Four Baltic Sea ports signed a Memorandum of Understanding and set a common approach for the new on-shore power supply for vessels

On September 9^th, Port of Tallinn, Port of Helsinki, Ports of Stockholm and Port of Turku signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), where they set a common approach for the new on-shore power supply for vessels. The aim is to actively contribute to reducing negative effects on the environment.  

Port of Tallinn, Port of Helsinki, Ports of Stockholm and Port of Turku signed Collaboration Agreements on development, cooperation and continuation of efforts for a better environment already during previous periods 2009-2014 and one specific initiative the ports agreed to work on together was electricity connections for vessels. 

The passenger ferry quays in Helsinki, Stockholm, Tallinn and Turku are located close to the city centres. The areas are of high value for real estate projects, which are being developed closer and closer to the ports. The combination of noise, vibration and other ship emissions (CO2, NOx, PM) can have a negative effect on existing and future living and working areas. The four ports see that one option for reducing or even eliminating all the negative effects is to connect ferries to the on-shore electricity grid while berthed. 

With the MoU Port of Tallinn, Port of Helsinki, Ports of Stockholm and Port of Turku wish to set a common approach for the new on-shore power supply in three aspects:

1. The Ports will provide new built connections with a voltage of 11 kV and a frequency of 50 Hz.
2. The Parties will jointly encourage other ports and shipping companies to follow the initiative and recommendations concerning onshore power supply standards.
3. The Parties will continue to work to minimize the negative effects on the environment of port operations and shipping in the Baltic Sea region.  

The European Union has recognised these environmental issues and has implemented the directive for alternative fuel infrastructure (DAFI, September 2015) which will make shore connections in TEN-T ports mandatory under certain circumstances by 2025 at the latest. The worldwide standard for onshore power supply is developed and described in IEC/ISO/IEEE 80005-1 to 3.

The Signing of MoU took place in Helsinki during the Baltic Ports Organisation’s (BPO) Conference session IV, which was titled „Baltic Sea as a model region for clean ports and shipping“  and was directly connected to the subject of the MoU. This year, BPO also celebrates its 25^th anniversary.