Landside Power Plant Hamburg passes field test

Six hours of full supply with shore-side power for the first time: after intensive tests, the Hamburg Port Authority (HPA) has successfully completed its field tests of the landside power plant at the cruise ship terminal Altona. The pilot phase had already been finished in September with the last call of the AIDAsol. The HPA had been collecting important information for the operation of a shore-side power connection of this size since the beginning of June. Built by Siemens, the landside power plant is unique in its dimension in Europe and an important step in Hamburg’s development towards an attractive and environmental-friendly cruise ship location in Europe.   

Since the number of vessels calling into Hamburg steadily increases, the Senate and the Parliament instructed the Hamburg Port Authority (HPA) during the past legislative period to build a landside power plant at the cruise ship terminal Altona and to establish the infrastructure for the shore-side power supply for cruise ships through an LNG Power Barge at the cruise ship terminal HafenCity.

The construction of the landside power plant in Altona is also part of the smartPORT energy initiative, which was started in 2012 by the HPA together with the then Ministry for Urban Development and the Environment (BSU) as well as the Ministry for Economics, Traffic and Innovation (BWVI). The declared objective is the energetic realignment of the Port of Hamburg.

The European Union as well as the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Construction and Nuclear Safety have acknowledged this and are supporting the construction of an alternative energy supply for cruise ships in the Port of Hamburg with 3.5 and 3.7 million Euros, respectively. The construction of the landside power plant costs about 10 million Euros.
 
Technical Data:
The power plant Altona consists of a converter station, electrical lines and a cable canal for the power chain on the quay facility as well as a mobile transfer facility.
 
The converter station transforms the current of 10kv/50Hz from the public power grid into the voltage of 11kv/60Hz necessary for cruise ships. Four transformers and a frequency converter were built into the converter station. The landside power will obtain electrical energy from renewable sources.
 
Electrical input voltage / frequency:
- 10kv / 50Hz

Electrical output voltage / frequency:
- 11 kV/60 Hz and 6,6 kV/60 Hz
- 10 kV/50 Hz and 6 kV/50 Hz

Maximum Performance:
- 12 MVA (megavolt ampere)