3,000 shore power connections per year with flexible energy supply systems

Profile

• What was needed: flexible ready-to-install system for providing offshore supply vessels (OSV) with shore power
• Requirements: robust, low-maintenance system that can withstand the rough environmental conditions of an offshore base
• Product: readychain harnessed energy chain, implemented as e-spool with twisterchain technology
• Industry: Shore power supply
• Success for the customer: reliable service with more than 3,000 shore-power connections per year

About shore power supply: Ships in ports have to be supplied with shore power so that they can switch off the auxiliary diesel generators on board and thus reduce the impact on the environment. For this purpose, the vessels must be connected to a cable supply system via a standardised plug connection.

The Mongstad offshore base is one of the busiest bases in Norway.
Ships change twice a day to be loaded with equipment for the offshore platforms in the North Sea. The base operates around the clock.
Therefore, it needs a very reliable and robust system that works in harsh environments and does not require much maintenance. The other important issue is flexibility. The ship berths in different positions due to wind conditions, sometimes to starboard, sometimes to port, to turn the bow into the wind and provide wind protection for the crew during unloading and loading.

At the highly frequented offshore base Mongstad in Norway, a reliable, robust and flexible system for supplying shore power from igus is used.
A pre-fitted e-spool is integrated in a 10-foot container that can be handled by forklifts that position the system along the various berths.
The container also protects the system from the harsh environment and the effects of port operations. The readychain system works without a slip ring and reduces maintenance with its hard-wired cables.