The South Korean port of Incheon has become the latest terminal operator to opt for cold-ironing in an effort to reduce vessel emissions.

ABB has secured the contract to install the port’s first shore-to-ship power solution after a pilot scheme for passenger ships to plug into the local grid received the go ahead.

In addition to a new $160m ferry terminal opened in April 2019, Port of Incheon inaugurated South Korea’s largest cruise terminal in June this year.

Given its metropolitan location and its ambitions to develop its ‘Golden Harbor’ vision for Incheon as a new tourism hub for the Northeast Asia, environmental credentials are said to rank highly in the ports priorities.

ABB’s full scope of delivery includes the installation of an onshore power connection at the Incheon passenger terminal consisting of an enclosure featuring a 2000 kVA capacity static frequency convertor with 50/60HZ output, a transformer, a neutral grounding registor unit and an outdoor enclosure.

The Swiss company said shore-to-ship power technology has already been installed by over 50 ports into strategies that “reduce emissions overall and incentivize clean shipping”.

“An increasing number of ports around the world offer shore power for ferries, as well as other passenger vessel types,” said ABB.

“There is a clear interest to lower pollution in ports, and one way of doing that is to install shore power and have a clean grid feeding to it.”

Commenting on the contract win, ABB Marine & Ports managing director Juha Koskela said: “As the first agreement covering shore-to-ship power in South Korea, this is a truly significant breakthrough for ABB.

“We are honored to be selected by Incheon to support their efforts in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from ships, as well as moving towards increasingly sustainable port operations.”