Since January 1, 2020, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has reduced the sulfur content in fuel used on board ships from less than 3.5% to less than 0.5%. Shipping companies have three options: use low-sulfur fuels, install scrubbers, or use liquefied natural gas (LNG). However, considering other environmental aspects such as the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and particulate matter in port areas, LNG is considered the ideal fuel in the maritime world. In line with this trend, Port Authorities are strengthening their infrastructure in this area. Barcelona, the most innovative Spanish port and the leading European port for cruise ship traffic, is at the forefront of our port system in offering new, environmentally friendly solutions to cutting-edge vessels.
Article from CruisesNews magazine no. 52 – June 2020
At the end of 2019, shipyards had 184 LNG-powered vessels on order, in addition to the 170 already in operation (103 in 2017). In 2019 alone, more than 100 LNG-powered vessels were ordered, tripling the average for the 2016-2018 period. This figure is expected to increase by 87% to reach 254 ships in 2020. However, there is significant concern within the maritime industry regarding LNG availability and the feasibility of using this fuel.
The business opportunities offered by LNG supply represent a key differentiator for ports that have this capability. A growing number of shipowners are considering using LNG, or at least dual-fuel vessels, for their new construction. However, LNG supply is a high-cost alternative that requires an integrated set of policies throughout its supply chain.
What shipowner will build an LNG-powered vessel without the necessary bunkering infrastructure, or at least the promise that it will be ready? And what bunkering company will invest in an expensive LNG bunkering barge (LNGBV) without the certainty of having a sufficient number of vessels as customers? It's the classic chicken-and-egg dilemma.
A port can be an LNG hub if it:
• Has access to liquefied natural gas. It must have an LNG terminal and storage facilities.
• Legal security in supply. Clear regulations and protocols.
• Clients that ensure the profitability of investments.
In 2020, 10% of cruise ship calls at the Port of Barcelona will be from LNG-powered vessels.
The Port of Rotterdam was a pioneer in Europe in the use of LNG. In 2014, it was the first port to allow LNG refueling on its premises. Rotterdam began collaborating with various partners to facilitate the creation of an LNG logistics chain in Europe. The port has an LNG terminal. The Port of Barcelona joined the LNG refueling network in January 2017 as part of the city's air quality improvement plan. On January 30 of that year, Naturgy, formerly known as Gas Natural Fenosa, completed the first LNG refueling operation for a Balearia ferry at the port.
New Eco-Friendly Cruise Ships:
Cruise ship owners have invested billions of euros in 24 ships that will use LNG as fuel, representing approximately 50% of the capacity of new constructions. Among the shipowners who have opted for this type of vessel are long-standing clients of the Port of Barcelona, such as Costa Cruises, MSC Cruises, Royal Caribbean, and AIDA. This could mean that, if construction deadlines are met, Barcelona could have three LNG-powered cruise ships (Costa, MSC, and possibly RCCL?), and that number could reach four or even five in the coming years, as prototypes from other shipowners who are clients of the port, such as Disney, TUI, and Princess, are incorporated.
Several studies have compiled growth forecasts for LNG as a marine fuel. These forecasts indicate that between 20 and 30% of new ships in 2030 will be powered by natural gas.
The arrival of these ships marks a turning point in the Port's environmental strategy, which sees its commitment to the sustainability of port activity materialize, and more specifically, the use of clean fuels, such as LNG.
The AidaNova was the first LNG cruise ship to call at Barcelona. It is 337 meters long, has a beam of 42 meters, and a maximum draft of 8.6 meters. With a gross tonnage of 183,858 GT, it is only larger than the four ships of Royal Caribbean's Oasis class. It has 20 decks housing 2,626 cabins, of which 86 are suites, 1,569 are balcony cabins (including 12 single cabins), 180 are outside cabins, and 791 are inside cabins (including 12 single cabins). While the use of LNG as fuel is the AidaNova's most outstanding feature, perhaps its sheer size is the most important for passengers, especially for long-time AIDA customers. This increase in size is also very illustrative of the progress in the size of cruise ships that have called at the Port of Barcelona. The AidaNova is five times larger than the AidaCara, more than two and a half times the size of the seven Sphinx-class ships introduced less than ten years ago, and 50% larger than the Aida Prima and the AidaPerla. The latter two were the first cruise ships to use LNG while docked in port. In the summer of 2018, the AidaPerla became the first cruise ship to use LNG while docked in Barcelona, utilizing special LNG tankers.
The AidaNova has three LNG storage tanks. Two of them are almost 35 meters long, 8 meters in diameter, and have a capacity of 1,550 m³ each, while the third tank is smaller: 5 meters in diameter, 28 meters long, and with a capacity of around 520 m³. With full tanks, the AidaNova can sail for up to two weeks without refueling.
During its first season based in Barcelona (last summer 2020), the AidaNova refueled in the Catalan capital every two weeks from the Dutch-flagged LNG barge Coral Methane. All LNG loadings for this barge are carried out at the ENAGAS plant in the Port of Barcelona. To accommodate this, the plant has adapted its berths to supply this fuel to the barge, thus making Barcelona an LNG hub. The AidaNova was based in Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca, and made stops in La Spezia, Marseille, and Civitavecchia. None of these ports have the capacity to refuel the AidaNova.
The Costa Smeralda arrives.
Following the AidaNova, its near-twin, the Costa Smeralda, took over as the LNG carrier based in Barcelona last December. Next summer, both will be based in the Catalan capital, making Barcelona the first port to serve two mega-ships using LNG. The Costa Smeralda has a gross tonnage almost 40% greater than the previous largest ship in the Costa Cruises fleet.
Costa Cruises and MSC Cruises are the Port of Barcelona's best customers. Their finest and most modern ships call at the Catalan capital.
Although both ships belong to the same series and share the same basic design, called Helios, there are some differences in the layout of public spaces and cabins, designed for each brand and specific market. These differences are not merely cosmetic: on the AidaNova, the spa is located forward on deck 7, while on the Costa Smeralda this area is not open to passengers. The Helios class design, to which both ships belong, does not include interior streets or large atriums; however, both ships have a large atrium, thanks primarily to their 42-meter beam.
The Costa Smeralda holds the Green Plus rating from its classification society, RINA, for its environmental features. In addition to its use of LNG, its highly efficient hull houses other systems that make it one of the most environmentally friendly ships afloat: it produces all the fresh water it consumes, all lighting is LED, it has several heat recovery systems for its engines, and more. Costa Cruises also has a comprehensive waste collection and separation system on board, which allows for the recycling of 100% of paper, plastic, aluminum, glass, and other materials. Furthermore, single-use items are not permitted on board.
The third ship in the Helios series, the Iona, owned by the British company P&O, is also scheduled to call at Barcelona this autumn. It is probably the only port in the world where three mega LNG cruise ships have ever called.
the
MSC Grandiosa to its winter cruises departing from Barcelona. Although it does not use LNG as fuel, it does have facilities that reduce its environmental impact.
One of its main innovations is the SCR system for reducing nitrogen oxides. A series of reactions take place in the SCR catalyst. Essentially, dilute urea is injected, and when it reacts with the catalyst elements and the NOx particles in the engine's exhaust gases, a 90% reduction in NOx occurs. After this reaction, the only particles emitted are nitrogen, water, and carbon dioxide (N2, H2O, and some CO2). For the SCR catalyst to function correctly, the exhaust gases entering it must be at a specific temperature, meaning the chimney must be sufficiently hot. Together with the scrubber, which reduces sulfur oxides by 97%, they form a set of installations crowned by the three paired chimneys. The MSC Grandiosa also has the option of being powered electrically from shore. During the ship's delivery, the president of MSC Cruises, Mr. Vago, criticized the fact that while an increasing percentage of ships have this capability, very few ports offer the necessary infrastructure. Hamburg, Marseille, Scandinavia, Alaska, etc. "Ports need to increase their investment," concluded the CEO of MSC Cruises, who also indicated that electricity in ports was expensive, making connecting to their electrical grid unprofitable.
Scrubber waste is classified as MARPOL Category VI waste. Two companies operating in the Port of Barcelona are licensed to receive and manage this waste and offer this service with the highest safety and environmental guarantees. Given that in January 2020, 3,756 vessels of all types, including the vast majority of cruise ships, were equipped with scrubbers, this situation once again places Barcelona in an advantageous position as a cruise homeport.
Cold Ironing Project in Barcelona:
Connecting cruise ships docked in port to the electrical grid (or "cold ironing"), thus avoiding the operation of auxiliary diesel engines that generate emissions, is a solution adopted by several ports worldwide to reduce emissions and improve air quality. Pioneering ports are located on the west coast of the US and Canada, with examples such as Seattle, Long Beach, and Vancouver, where in some cases it is even mandatory to shut down auxiliary engines while in port. In these facilities, the available power is typically around 20 MWh.
The technology for electrical connections to ships has been improving and becoming cheaper, which means that more and more ports will adopt this solution to reduce polluting emissions and also to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The Port of Barcelona plans to progressively electrify all docks so that cruise ships, among others, can stop their auxiliary engines in port.
European Directive 94/2014 on alternative fuel infrastructure includes a recommendation that by 2025, major European ports must have connection infrastructure at their docks to allow ships to refuel during their stay. The National Action Framework for the implementation of this directive acknowledges this need and recommends addressing the main obstacles to its implementation, such as electricity tariffs and the type of electrical power supplied to ships.
Northern European ports have been pioneers in using this technology, especially those in Scandinavia, perhaps because they were also the first to use short-sea shipping with ferries and ro-ro vessels. But this technology has now reached cruise ships in Europe. Kristiansund, Norway, began offering a 16 MWh power outlet to cruise ships docking at its piers in 2018. Hamburg inaugurated a 12 MWh power outlet at the Altona terminal last January and plans to do the same at its other two terminals: HafenCity and Steinweder.
However, one of the other obstacles to its implementation is the need for high-capacity electricity to provide sufficient power for certain vessels, such as megacruise ships and large container ships. The paradox is that almost all of these ships leave the shipyard equipped to consume electricity from land… and it is the port that generally lacks this infrastructure.
In the Mediterranean, the Port of Barcelona, among its initiatives to reduce polluting emissions of gases and particulate matter, is focusing on the progressive electrification of its docks. Connecting ships to electricity at Barcelona's docks will reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by 51% and particulate matter emissions by 25% by 2030.
The Port of Barcelona will invest over €60 million to progressively electrify its main docks, starting with those where ferries and cruise ships berth, and later container ships and car carriers, over a period of eight years. An application has already been submitted to Red Eléctrica Española (REE) for a high-voltage (220 kV) connection to supply the necessary power for the electrification.
The estimated peak consumption of all connected ships is over 100 GWh annually, approximately 40% of the Port's current total electricity consumption. The work schedule currently being developed anticipates the progressive deployment of this network through transformer substations and control centers, branching out to the terminals where the ships will connect.
Both shipowners and port authorities work several years in advance.
Furthermore, the Port aims to promote renewable energy generation within the port area, either at facilities belonging to the Port Authority of Barcelona itself or at terminal or operator facilities. The renewable energy generation potential—primarily photovoltaic—of the port area is estimated to exceed 100 MWp peak power, with an annual production of approximately 120 GWh of electricity, a figure that could meet the electricity demands of ships calling at our port.
The electrification of the docks will reduce greenhouse gas emissions from ships calling at the port, thanks in part to electricity generated from renewable energy sources. The Port Authority is working with leading manufacturers of electrical components and equipment, as well as cable management systems, to connect vessels to the electrical grid from the dock, ensuring maximum safety and efficiency in operations.
The “cold ironing” in the Mediterranean:
The Port Authority of Marseille is also investing in electrical power outlets for ships docking in its port, with the aim of becoming the first 100% electric port in the Mediterranean by 2025.
Power outlets are already available at the ferry berths in Corsica, and the project will expand in two phases. First, it will be extended to the ferry docks connecting Marseille with North Africa, as well as the dry docks and the ship repair area in 2022; while the cruise terminal will be electrified between 2022 and 2025.
For the port of Genoa, Nidec ASI will supply two 6 MWh static frequency converters, which can reach 12 MVA under the required overload conditions, along with the switchboards, medium- and low-voltage transformers, and connecting cables for the various equipment and components. The unique feature of Nidec ASI systems is their ability to adapt the voltage and frequency of the Italian electrical grid to the specific needs of ships.
In the eastern Mediterranean, the only noteworthy electrical power outlet is that of the Port of Killini, inaugurated in December 2018. It was co-financed by the European Union with the ELEMED program and by the shipping company Levante Ferries, whose ferry Fior di Levante uses it when docked.
Other environmental initiatives of the Port of Barcelona
The Port of Barcelona is betting on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) as a cleaner fuel for ships, terminal machinery and trucks, since it reduces nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions by 85%, entails a substantial reduction in CO2 emissions and completely eliminates particulate matter and sulfur oxides.
The Port of Barcelona has positioned itself as the leading LNG bunkering hub for ships in the Mediterranean, one of the strategies implemented by the Catalan port to attract the most sustainable vessels and effectively reduce emissions from its operations. Since last April, the Port has been receiving the AidaNova, the world's first LNG-powered cruise ship, every Friday. The Costa Smeralda, also powered by LNG, began operations in December. The LNG supplier for both ships, thanks to a contract signed in 2016 with Carnival Corp., the parent company of Costa and Aida, is Shell. Last February, the Port of Barcelona granted Shell a license for ship-to-ship LNG bunkering at the Catalan port. Shell has been bunkering LNG to cruise ships in the ports of Barcelona and Tenerife, both homeports of Carnival Corp., where it operates cruise terminals. Shell has also been a pioneer in bunkering its supply vessels at the LNG terminals in Huelva and Barcelona.
The Port of Barcelona currently has all the necessary infrastructure and equipment to supply LNG to ships. Some cruise ships, ferries, and trucks are already using this service.
Shell has used several barges to supply LNG: in Barcelona, the chosen vessel was the Dutch Coral Methane (delivered in 2009) with a capacity of around 7,500 m2; and in Santa Cruz de Tenerife they were the Cardissa and the Engie Zeebrugge, both delivered in 2017 and with capacities of 6,500 and 5,000 m3 respectively.
Other natural gas-related initiatives have also been successfully completed, such as the pilot project to generate electricity from the dock for ferries berthed at the Port, allowing them to shut down their auxiliary engines and thus stop emitting pollution into the atmosphere. This involves a dockside engine that supplies electricity from LNG, making it a clean and sustainable alternative to the ship's engines while in port. The pilot project, developed on the ro-ro vessel Audace, owned by the Spanish shipowner Flota Suardíaz, has been a pioneering initiative on the Iberian Peninsula.
Other projects led by the Port of Barcelona include the design of a natural gas-powered tugboat, a solution that will reduce emissions from a basic port service: towing ships into and out of the port. Additionally, a straddle carrier (used in terminals to move containers) is being adapted to run on this alternative fuel.
In addition, the Enagás plant at the Port of Barcelona has installed a transfer system to supply LNG to barges and small ships.
In the area of land transport, completed projects include the commissioning of a natural gas refueling station and the conversion of 26 trucks' diesel engines to dual-fuel, a technology that allows vehicles to run on both diesel and natural gas. The RePort project, led and coordinated by the Port of Barcelona with the support of ACCIÓ and the collaboration of several partners, has enabled the 26 trucks to operate regularly using this dual-fuel technology, contributing to improved air quality in the Port and its surrounding area.
Another environmental project benefiting Barcelona is that of the Italian shipping company Grimaldi, which in 2019 installed 5.5 MWh battery systems on its ferries Cruise Roma and Cruise Barcelona. These systems allow both vessels to operate in port for four hours with their auxiliary engines off, without any emissions. The Cruise Roma and Cruise Barcelona operate daily on the regular route between Barcelona and Civitavecchia.
Port of Barcelona's Commercial Strategy:
The current Ports Law allows for a 50% discount on fees for vessels that incorporate solutions to minimize their emissions, such as LNG. In addition to this discount, the Port of Barcelona applies an extra 40% to incentivize cleaner vessels to use our port.
The reality is that, as a result of these environmental and commercial strategies, the Port of Barcelona was expecting more than 850 port calls in the next twelve months. A figure that the coronavirus crisis is going to drastically reduce.
But 2021 looks at least as promising. Both shipowners and port authorities work several years in advance to ensure that all the logistics, berth scheduling, terminal usage, and overall operations surrounding a cruise stop in Barcelona are coherent and run smoothly. And this is without even mentioning the airport's connectivity, the high-speed train from Sants station, and pre- and post-cruise stays in Barcelona hotels.
MSC and Costa are the Port of Barcelona's best customers, bringing their largest and most modern ships. The Costa Smeralda was scheduled to make weekly visits, eventually reaching 52, and the MSC Grandiosa had 44 calls planned. Both ships were delivered in 2019, and it's significant that their owners have decided to inaugurate them with seven-day cruises from Barcelona to the Western Mediterranean.
MSC Cruises, in addition to the MSC Grandiosa, offered port calls throughout much of the year with the MSC Divina and the MSC Seaview. Aida is the third largest cruise line in Barcelona, with 88 port calls. Among them is its flagship, the AidaNova, with 33 calls, which will return to Barcelona for the second consecutive summer. Finally, the world's largest cruise ship, the Allure of the Seas, was also scheduled to be a regular visitor to Moll Adossat during the summer months.
Using LNG as fuel while a ship is docked in port to power generator sets that produce electricity for hotel uses (air conditioning, lighting, etc.) can reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by up to 80%, while particulate matter and sulfur oxides are almost completely eliminated, and carbon dioxide emissions are reduced by 20%.
