Port of Helsinki unveils onshore power supply system so that vessel not required to produce energy

According to the port, this system is utilised by the Finnlines vessels M/S Finnmaid, Finnstar, and Finnlady, which transport freight and passengers between Helsinki and Travemünde.

Onshore power supply is a system that generates shore-based electricity for a vessel in a port. This eliminates the requirement for the vessel’s auxiliary engines to produce energy. Onshore electricity may significantly lower a ship’s climate emissions in the port region, by 50-80 per cent.

The onshore power supply system was finished at Vuosaari Harbour towards the end of 2023, and a similar system was built at Travemünde Harbour in early 2024.

Simultaneously, Finnlines’ vessels were outfitted with equipment that enabled them to receive onshore electricity. M/S Finnmaid was the first ship to use the new system.

Chief Operational Officer, Thomas Doepel, Vice President of Finnlines, said: “The Finnlines RoPax vessels Finnmaid, Finnstar and Finnlady operating between Helsinki and Travemünde can now use onshore power supply in both ports of call. In addition to emissions, the system also reduces harmful noise. This is an important environmental investment from both the Port of Helsinki and Finnlines.”

According to EU regulations, by 2030, practically all passenger and cargo ships must get onshore electricity in marine ports that receive at least 50 large passenger vessel port calls or 100 containership port calls each year.i

Vesa Marttinen, Vice President of the cargo traffic business at Port of Helsinki, stated: ”We built the first onshore power supply connections in ports in central Helsinki, where the reduction in air pollution will yield the most significant benefits due to housing near the ports.

“The first onshore power supply system in Katajanokka was completed in 2012, and we are now able to provide electricity generated on shore in Vuosaari as well.”

In April, Cavotec signed an order for shore power with a global shipping company, valued at about $5 million.