Port of Barcelona — 2022-12-20
Members Corner
The Port of Barcelona and Denmark's PowerCon A/S have started building the pilot project to provide electrical power to ships at the BEST terminal. The company has been awarded the contract for this project, which is part of Phase Zero of the Wharf Electrification Plan developed by the Port of Barcelona and includes the drafting and performance of the project as well as the ships' connection and disconnection service and the maintenance of the installation. The contract has been awarded for €4,978,640.
The first meeting was held last week between the Port of Barcelona team that heads the pilot project (Ana Arévalo, Energy Transition Manager; Gemma Peñalver, Site Manager, and José Manuel Hernández, electrical engineer) and the team from PowerCon A/S, led by Peter Castberg Knudsen, Team Manager and founding partner of PowerCon; Soren Munch, Site Manager, and Javier San Miguel, coordinator.
During the meeting, the Port of Barcelona and PowerCon teams established the ground rules for the performance of the construction project in accordance with the tender and visited the Hutchison Ports BEST terminal to inspect the facilities where the electrification equipment will be located. Ana Arévalo stated "we hope to have the construction project approved in six months, at most, so that we can start the building work".
Nexigen
With a planned overall investment of nearly €110 million, the Wharf Electrification Plan is among the key projects promoted by the Port of Barcelona to halve CO2 emissions from port operations by 2030 and become a carbon neutral port by 2050. This plan, known as Nexigen, will make it possible to connect ships to the general electricity grid while they are berthed, using clean energy that is generated at the Port itself or that is certified 100% renewable.
Awarding the pilot project at the BEST terminal marks a decisive step towards realising the first OPS (onshore power supply) supply points, which will work at the Port's commercial docks. It should be remembered that the Port's first OPS points are already working at the MB92 Barcelona facilities.
Once the BEST pilot project is underway, the Port of Barcelona will have real and useful experience-based information about the performance of OPS on container ships and will be able to draw conclusions regarding best practices and identify future needs and developments.
The Port of Barcelona Dock Electrification Plan is fully aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and one of the keys to its success lies in connecting the Port directly to the high-capacity electricity grid to respond to expected demand for electricity from ships.
The successful tenderer
PowerCon is a Danish engineering and manufacturing company specialising in electrical energy conversion solutions for various applications. With its roots in the Danish wind power sector, PowerCon is not only involved in the wind turbine industry but also operates in the maritime sector, where the company ranks among the leaders in power supply equipment.
PowerCon offers high- and low-voltage power supply solutions from land to all types of vessels, ranging from cruise ships to container ships, ferries and fishing vessels. All of its flexible and innovative systems are built according to international standards.