Shore power premiere in Germany
For the first time, two cruise ships are using the shore power system in Rostock-Warnemünde at the same time
On April 16, 2023, AIDA Cruises not only celebrated the start of this year's cruise season with the double call of AIDAsol and AIDAmar in Rostock-Warnemünde. For the first time in a German port, two cruise ships were connected in parallel to a shore power system and supplied with green energy.
“We are happy about this successful premiere in Rostock-Warnemünde. Thanks to the opening of further plants in Europe, we will be able to further expand our commitment this year. Our goal is to be able to use shore power in all ports in the future. We therefore welcome the decisions of other ports to set up a corresponding offer. With our commitment to decarbonization, we are not only driving the energy transition in the cruise industry. We also show that local added value through cruise tourism in the destinations can be made sustainable,” said AIDA President Felix Eichhorn.
For the company, the use of shore power to supply its cruise ships with energy is an important contribution to reducing emissions to almost zero while they are in port. Shore power pioneer AIDA Cruises has been using this environmentally friendly technology since 2004 when planning and building its ships. On the shore side, more than ten years have passed before the first shore power system in Europe with an AIDA ship was able to start regular operation in Hamburg Altona.
The first shore power system for cruise ships in the Baltic Sea region was opened on May 10, 2021 with AIDAsol in Rostock-Warnemünde on the occasion of the 12th National Maritime Conference. With an output of up to 20 megavolt amperes (MVA), two cruise ships can be supplied with electricity at berths P7 and P8 at the same time.
As part of its Green Cruising strategy, AIDA Cruises has been investing in a future-proof and sustainable cruise market for many years. In addition to using low-emission liquefied natural gas (LNG) as an important bridging technology, the company is expanding the use of alternative energy sources such as shore power or batteries to operate its cruise ships. Together with various partners, AIDA Cruises is working intensively on solutions for using regenerative or synthetic fuels in the future and is putting these into practice. In July 2022, AIDAprima was the first large cruise ship to use a mixture of marine biofuel. As part of Carnival Corporation & plc's family of cruise brands, AIDA Cruises aims to make its fleet operations carbon-neutral by 2050.
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