LNG fueled barge for cold ironing: Feasibility study for the emission abatement in the Port of Genoa

On a global scale, by 2030 the United Nations have promoted goals focused on energy efficiency, cleaner fossil-fuel technology, promoting investment in energy infrastructure and clean energy technology for a more ecofriendly environment. This new kind of scenario will involve the maritime activities and the international shipping as confirmed by Annex VI of IMO’s pollution prevention treaty (MARPOL). The infrastructure and upgrade technology for supplying modern and sustainable energy services will affect the technical requirement of the ships and the related port activities. The scientific analysis presented in this paper aims at studying a maritime technical solution for the generation and delivery of electric energy to ships moored in port by mean of LNG fueled generators installed onboard a barge. The floating barge here proposed is able to feed with cleaner energy different typologies of moored ships: in particular, the total power installed on board the barge allows to supply a modern cruise ship or two ro-pax vessels. The paper presents a detailed study concerning the technical features of the barge and the different LNG generators layout for a fixed port calls scenario. The results of the study regard the dimensions and weights of the barge and the generators, LNG consumption, a preliminary cost evaluation of the cleaner energy fueled barge, as well as the estimation of the exhaust emissions reduction in the port area