Global · Case study

Port of Gothenburg, onshore power supply for tankers

Energy Port (tanker terminal), Port of Gothenburg, Sweden2000 (first onshore power supply at the port) to 2027 (container and car berth expansion planned)

The Port of Gothenburg first established onshore power supply (OPS) in 2000 at the RoRo terminal at Älvsborg Harbour (Port of Gothenburg, n.d.a). In 2025 the port stated that OPS is installed at its RoRo, RoPax and tanker terminals (Port of Gothenburg, 2025). The tanker installation is notable because tankers operate in explosive atmospheres, and tanker shore power has often been judged difficult or infeasible elsewhere.

Approach

A tanker-specific concept. The port developed OPS for tankers under the name Green Cable, which it describes as a new concept for explosive atmospheres (Port of Gothenburg, n.d.a).

Industry collaboration. The concept was developed with Donsö shipping companies, national and European ports, class societies, oil companies and the Swedish Transport Agency (Port of Gothenburg, n.d.a).

Technical design for tankers. The port specifies a 6.6 kV, 50 Hz supply of up to 2 MW per jetty. The cable is handled from shore and lifted with the ship's crane to a connection point at the manifold, with safety measures designed for ATEX zone 1 (Port of Gothenburg, n.d.b).

Vessels prepared by owners. Swedish tanker owners, including Furutank, Donsötank and Tärntank, prepared vessels for connection; the first fully ready vessels were delivered in February 2022 (Port of Gothenburg, n.d.b).

Expanding to other terminals. A new 19 MVA transformer station, part-funded by the EU Connecting Europe Facility, will extend OPS to five container berths and two car berths, with completion planned for March 2027 (Port of Gothenburg, 2025).

Results

The port estimates that tanker OPS saves about 1,200 tonnes of CO2 a year (Port of Gothenburg, n.d.a). This is an owner estimate, not a measured result, and its calculation basis is not stated. The port's project page planned the first tanker connection for the first quarter of 2024 (Port of Gothenburg, n.d.b); the actual connection date was not confirmed in the sources reviewed. The greenhouse gas saving depends on the carbon intensity of the electricity supplied and on which onboard loads are switched to shore power.

Transferability

Tanker and liquid bulk terminals in DMCs planning onshore power supply can design for explosive-atmosphere safety from the start, agree the connection interface with tanker owners that call regularly, and begin with vessels in dedicated trades. Because onshore power replaces electrical loads only, ports should check how much of a tanker's energy use at berth is electrical before estimating savings. Savings also depend on the carbon intensity of the electricity supplied. Industry guidance for tankers and terminals and the relevant international shore connection standards should inform the design.

Sources

All information used for this case study was based on publicly available resources.