The Port of Skagen has started a major shift from diesel generators to electric shore power for unloading large pelagic vessels. The project is backed by EU funding and aims to cut emissions, noise, and fuel use.
The new system supplies electricity from land while vessels unload fish such as herring, sprat, and blue whiting. Unloading can last from 10 to 30 hours. Until now, ships relied on onboard diesel generators.
Two vessels have already been retrofitted to connect to shore power. A third vessel is undergoing conversion. Once fully operational, unloading will use only green electricity.
Diesel use cut by up to eight per cent
Individual vessels are expected to reduce diesel use by between 3% and 8% each year. The port also expects better local air quality and less noise for residents and workers.
Jesper Rulffs, Business Developer at the Port of Skagen, said the change brings clear gains.
“By shifting pelagic vessels from diesel generators to shore power, we achieve reductions in CO₂ as well as SOₓ, NOₓ and particulate emissions,” he said.
Joint project between port and fleet
The project is a partnership between the Danish Pelagic Producer Organisation and the Port of Skagen. It includes three steps: building shore power units, retrofitting vessels, and expanding grid capacity.
The port needed certainty that vessels would use the system. Vessel owners needed confidence that power would be reliable. Close cooperation made the project possible.
Part of a wider green strategy
Skagen aims to become CO₂-neutral. Electric cars and cranes are already in use at the port. Shore power is the next major step in that plan.
The Port of Skagen is Denmark’s largest fishing port and serves the North Atlantic pelagic fleet. Cleaner unloading operations are expected to strengthen its long-term competitiveness.
As more vessels convert, the environmental benefits will grow. The project shows that commercial value and environmental progress can work together.