Shore Power
This page is all about electrifying vessels while in port or at sea, called shore power or cold-ironing. Scroll down to comment or ask us anything in the chat box. Want to know how feasible shore power is for your vessel? Use our tool to make your own business case in minutes.
Key lessons
Which technical specifications and standards apply with shore power? Download technical specs. and feasibility studies here.
Stories on shore power
This case study determines the effects of pooling a fully electric small-sized chemical tanker with similar type vessels in the context of FuelEU Maritime. The results show that a single electric ship can include up to 69 ships in its pool in 2025, each ship consuming 2,555 mT MDO per year.
Accurate estimates of containership power demand are becoming increasingly critical due to stringent regulations, such as FuelEU Maritime, in combination with technical complexities. Ship power demand varies significantly depending on size, onboard equipment installed, and operational profile. These uncertainties places considerable pressure on terminal owners, port authorities, and developers to design and implement shore power infrastructure. This blog aims to provide guidance on this issue.
This case study determines the impact of FuelEU Maritime on a shore power refit for a RoRo Cargo ship under multiple loading and operational conditions. Pending on the amount of days connected to the grid and the average load while moored, it is estimated that shore power can save €250,000 per year.
This is a case study that determines the impact of FuelEU Maritime on a shore power refit business case up to 2050, taking several ships and varying input parameters to determine the impact under multiple conditions. As FuelEU Maritime will make shore power mandatory in 2030 for passenger- and containerships, this tool will help to determine the impact of that regulation on your business case.
This is a techno-economic case study that provides guidance for decarbonizing a feeder by means of a shore power refit. Shore power will be made mandatory by 2030 for these ship types as per FuelEU Maritime regulation. A step-by-step approach is given to estimate costs, analyse technical feasibility, and create a business case for the shore power refit in general.
How do we deal with the challenges surrounding shore power? Why is standardization so important? And what will we achieve with collaboration? Find out together with Fanni Arvai, Innovation & Sustainability Manager at International Car Operators and passionate about changing the maritime industry in a positive way with a vision for a more inclusive and environmentally conscious future.
IEC/IEEE 80005 is the main standard for shore power. This standard categorically divides shore power plugs and sockets into low voltage shore connection systems (LVSC < 1 MVA) and high voltage shore connection systems (HVSC > 1 MVA). LVSC systems are governed by IEC/IEEE 80005-3 for operability and IEC 60309-5 for dimensions. HVSC systems are governed by IEC/IEEE 80005-1 for operability and IEC 62613-2 for dimensions.
On behalf of the Province of South-Holland, Sustainable Ships has been project leader of 'Project BOEI’, a techno-economic feasibility study on the electrification of tankers off the coast of Scheveningen, Netherlands. The study was performed with consortium members InnovationQuarter, Bluewater, Knutsen, EOPSA, Rijkswaterstaat, Campus@Sea, Port of Rotterdam, KVNR and Cavotec. This lunch and learn is the recording of the close-out session in which main findings were presented.
Project BOEI is a techno-economic feasibility study on behalf of the Province of South-Holland on the electrification of tankers at the Scheveningen anchorage. The goal is to identify the most feasible technical solutions and risks, in addition to cost and emissions reduction estimation. Primary drivers are reduction of NOx and CO2 emissions. Total costs for all scopes combined is €14M (~€12M for infra and ~€2M for ship). E-anchor and subsea cabling are approximately 50% of all cost. Break-even price parity for shipowner and provider of power is at around €0.20-€0.25 per kWh.
Renewable Energy Units - Hernieuwbare Brandstof Eenheden - are a Dutch system of certificates based on the EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED). Under the system, parties that produce liquid fossil fuels for transport have an obligation from the government to purchase REUs. Per year, €1 billion REUs are traded in the Netherlands. You can earn between 4.5 and 18 eurocents per kWh ‘sold’ to a vessel, for example when using shore power.
Are there standardized sockets and plugs? Which standards apply? This, and more!