ABB India’s starts shore-to-ship power supply for Tuticorin port

In line with the government of India’s ‘Project Green Ports’ project, ABB India has commissioned a state-of-the-art solution for shore-to-ship power supply for ships at the V. O. Chidambaranar Port, formerly the Tuticorin Port. This solution expands the scope of the green agenda beyond renewable power to technology, which will enable ships docking at a port to plug for power instead of running on polluting diesel generators and using expensive power.

The Indian grid delivers power at a frequency of 50 Hz. So ships, most of which adhere to European standards of 60 Hz, have to depend on on-board diesel generators for power. For an average docking time of 60 hours for a commercial vessel at a port, the diesel generators produce a staggering 360 MT of carbon dioxide. ABB Shore-to-Ship technology supplies ships that are docked with electricity from shore, so they can turn off the diesel engines that provide electricity for systems like heating, lighting and refrigeration of the vessel, and reduce greenhouse gas and noise emissions in port. The technology also helps reduce low-frequency noise and vibrations, and allows the crew to maintain diesel engines while the ship is berthed.

“ABB is a global leader in shore to ship solutions and this is the first such installation at a commercial port in India. Trade volumes and efficiency of ports will play a large role in furthering initiatives such as Make in India. And volume increase will be sustainable only when the carbon footprint of berthed ships’ power sources reduce significantly,” said Sanjeev Sharma, CEO and Managing Director, ABB India Limited. “ABB’s deep footprint and technology expertise makes it well positioned to partner the nation in its journey of decoupling growth from carbon emissions.”

The existing infrastructure at the port, which entailed usage of generators by the ships, was upgraded with the ABB’s state-of-the-art Shore to Ship supply system. The scope includes the proven PCS100 based Static Frequency Converter (SFC) with the associated electricals. The PCS100 SFC end to end solution is engineered for the demanding port applications with a modular construction, overload capability and power flow control in either direction using the advanced ABB technology.

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