All emerging technologies target two main aspects of shipping. One, the savings in bunker fuel and the other is the reduction in emissions. Several companies come out with new innovative concepts to achieve these two feats.
First came the concept of cold-ironing and then the METS. Though there are other ways, like usage exhaust gas scrubbers, low sulphur fuels, hybrid fuels, and other abatement technologies, many keep digging for new solutions to solve the two-feat problem.
Becker Marine systems have come forward with an innovative idea of providing shore power for the shipboard auxiliaries when the vessel is at berth. The concept is so simple that there are containers which are planned to house generators which run on LNG.
Becker Marine systems’ LNG PowerPac boasts a 1.5MW generator and up to 30 hours’ supply of LNG fuel in a 2x40ft container. Becker Marine has received a grant to commercialise this new concept for providing auxiliary power to ships during port calls.
The LNG PowerPac features a 1.5MW LNG-fuelled generator and an LNG tank in a container the size of two standard 40ft containers. The 8.2 tonnes of LNG in the system can provide shoreside power for a container ship for up to 30 hours.
Henning Kuhlmann, managing director, Becker Marine Systems, said: “During layovers at the port, the power for containerships is currently being supplied by onboard auxiliary diesel engines using fuel oil. With LNG PowerPacs, we are creating a modern, environmentally friendly, safe and economical option for supplying power based on LNG to container ships during layovers at a port.”
The German Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) has granted Becker funding in the millions of Euros to deploy the first LNG PowerPacs on containerships. “The use of LNG PowerPacs as an alternative onshore power solution is an important contribution to climate protection and the reduction of harmful emissions at a port,” said Enak Ferlemann, the parliamentary secretary, BMVI.
As well as the environmental advantages over burning fuel oil, the PowerPac offers cable-free power, easy loading using standard port equipment and a simple and flexible fit with the vessel’s loading configuration. Its output matches the voltage of the onboard electrical system and can be controlled by onboard electronics with no additional transformers and frequency converters required.
For ports, the PowerPac offers independence from costly shore power infrastructure, with no adjustments to harbour infrastructure required.
Source: Becker marine Systems
