- BlueBARGE will play a key role in the transformation of the maritime port sector towards the objectives of electrification and decarbonisation at European and international level.
- The initiative, in which Fundación Valenciaport participates, has a budget of more than 11 million euros, co-financed by CINEA’s Horizon Europe programme.
Valencia, 9 February 2024. – Yesterday took place in Athens (Greece) the kick-off meeting of the BlueBARGE project, Blue bunkering of anchored ships with renewable generated electricity, whose main objective is the design and development of an energy barge that will support the supply of electricity to moored and anchored ships.
The BlueBARGE initiative, coordinated by ABS Hellenic Single Member LTD and in which Fundación Valenciaport is actively participating, has a total budget of more than 11 million euros, co-financed by CINEA’s Horizon Europe programme.
BlueBARGE will play a key role in the transformation of the maritime port sector towards the goals of electrification and decarbonisation, at European and international level.
The barge will limit polluting emissions following a modular, scalable, adaptable and flexible design approach that will facilitate its commercialisation by 2030. It will also address the issues of power supply integration, interconnection of the barge with ships, the port and the local power grid, as well as operational safety and regulatory compliance. In this way, it will offer a complete, high-availability power supply solution.
Among its main advantages is the speed with which it can be deployed in different locations as required. This reduces the need for time-consuming and costly infrastructure upgrades, especially in ports and harbour anchorage areas.
One of the most innovative points of BlueBARGE is the introduction of a novel hybrid concept that will combine the higher energy density of lithium (Li-ion) batteries with the innovative vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) solution, which introduces increased safety and service life.
The proposal will not only serve ships at anchor, including container ships, tankers and cruise ships, but will also be able to supply power to vessels moored in spaces where OPS (Onshore Power Supply) infrastructure deployment is limited or unavailable. In this way, it will be able to ensure the supply of energy in areas of difficult access where the supply from the port’s electricity grid is limited.
The project includes the completion of a feasibility study, the formulation of a sound operational strategy and business plan and the identification of possible sources of financing. A small-scale prototype will also be developed and tested in a real controlled environment.
In this project, Fundación Valenciaport will contribute its experience in port operations, risk assessment of the use of alternative fuels and the implementation of OPS systems in port and will lead the work package focused on the evaluation and optimisation of the performance of the barge design.
Among other tasks, you will be responsible for the definition of key performance indicators (KPIs), to evaluate their performance and the exploration of different design alternatives. In addition, it will carry out an analysis of the technical feasibility and financial and economic aspects, together with the evaluation of the social and environmental impact.
It should be noted that Fundación Valenciaport has accumulated extensive experience in OPS issues, having led the European EALING project, an initiative that has promoted the deployment of electrical supply systems to ships in different ports of the European Union, and the EALINGWorks Valenciaport project, whose objective is to prepare the port’s electrical network for the supply of OPS to container ships, ferries and cruise ships in the new terminals of the Port of Valencia.
BlueBARGE Consortium
In addition to ABS and Fundación Valenciaport, 12 other European entities participate in the BlueBARGE consortium: Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige Universitet; Hydrus Advanced Consolidated Engineering Services S.A; Aalborg Universitet; Elkon Elektrik Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş; Regbes B.V.; Multimarine Services Ltd; Corvus Norway AS; Magellan Circle – European Affairs Consultancy, Lda.; Danaos Shipping Co. LTD; Enerox GmbH y Columbia Shipmanagement Ltd.
