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Cavotec and Wärtsilä jointly develop shore-power technology

Cavotec and Wärtsilä jointly develop shore-power technology
Manufacturer of shore power equipment Cavotec has jointly developed the world’s first combined induction charging and automatic mooring concept with Wärtsilä.

Once moored automatically using vacuum pads, which circumvent the need for mooring lines, the device is able to charge a vessel wirelessly using inductive power transfer, a technology used to charge some mobile phones. Shore power connections enable vessels to run their auxiliary systems on grid electricity, saving emissions in ports.

Vacuum-pad mooring has performed more than 145,000 mooring operations at ferry, bulk handling, ro-ro, container and lock applications worldwide. Cavotec claims the technology dramatically improves safety and operational efficiency, and also enables ports to make infrastructure savings.

Because wireless charging does away with a cable connection between vessel and shore, safety is increased securing and facilitating safe connections and disconnections, and wear and tear is cut dramatically.

The new project’s integrated system will be capable of transferring more than 1 MW of electrical energy, some 300 times more than that of current chargers used by electric cars.

“During recent years, wireless charging has been introduced for cars, busses and trains. Wärtsilä has now made this possible also for marine vessels. This agreement with Cavotec will enable this technology to be delivered as an integrated charging and mooring system,” said Peter Rogers, director Power Products, Wärtsilä Marine Solutions.