Chinese container ship first to use HHLA shore power

The container vessel Cosco Shipping Taurus has been the first ship to test the new shore power system at HHLA Container Terminal Tollerort (CTT) in Hamburg. The procedure marks the successful testing of the system by project partners HPA, Siemens, Cosco Shipping, and HHLA.

Like many other of the Chinese company's vessels, the Cosco Shipping Taurus is fitted with all the components necessary for shore power supply. Converters and transformers adapt green energy from shore to meet the shipboard voltage and frequency requirements.

CTT's shore power facility is available at the mega-ship berth, where the world’s largest container vessels can be handled. Cables at the edge of the quay now connect ships to the shore power system, Mingfeng Wang, Cosco Shipping (Europe) president, commented: "For 40 years, the shipping company Cosco Shipping has been linked to the Tollerort terminal through a successful business relationship. With our recent vessels, which are all already equipped with the integrated technical components for shore power supply, and shore power finally becoming available at CTT, Cosco Shipping and HHLA are on our way to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality, to fulfil the new requirements of the International Maritime Organization's MARPOL Convention relating to the "International Shipping Regulations on Carbon Intensity", reduce greenhouse gas emissions from vessels at berth, build a green and low-carbon supply chain, and protect the earth's ecological environment."

HHLA Executive Board chairwoman, Angela Titzrath, said: "Shoreside power stations at HHLA's terminals in Hamburg are an important contribution towards the decarbonisation of the port and the logistics chain. We are pleased that the shoreside power stations at our terminals have been established, making it possible to reliably supply shoreside electricity to our customers' ships equipped for that technology. This makes the Port of Hamburg a pioneer within Europe."