Integration of cold ironing and renewable sources in the Barcelona smart port

Abstract

Cold ironing, which is the procedure of supplying shoreside electrical power to a ship at berth when its engines are turned off, arises as the eco-friendly way to deliver power to ships while they are berthed in ports, thus avoiding the use of diesel engines onboard, which provokes the emission of large amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The aim of this study is twofold. Firstly, a survey of research developments on cold ironing is carried out in order to show the state of the art on the problem of greenhouse gases emitted by ships while docked and how to tackle it. Current regulations and examples of current ports that make use of technologies for cold ironing purposes are also shown. Secondly, the study proposes the use of a cold ironing system in the port of Barcelona, where the power generation is entirely given by renewable energy systems (wind turbines and photovoltaic panels). The idea is to contribute to the wide spread of cold ironing within smart port microgrids to achieve the goal of zero emissions from berthed ships.