Cables & wires Sustainable, fully automatic charging options for ships

Related Vendors

U.I. Lapp GmbH

Taiwan Machine Tool & Accessory Builders' Association (TMBA)

Wuxi InfiMotion Technology Co., Ltd.

Zinus AS develops fully automatic and sustainable charging solutions for ships and ferries. For the shore power solution, the Norwegian company relies on a special cable from Lapp.

Shipping is responsible for almost three percent of global CO₂ emissions worldwide. In 2022, the global maritime transport sector emitted approximately 710 million tons of greenhouse gases, with Europe contributing an estimated 129,000 tons per year. Added to this are emissions of soot and nitrogen oxides, even in ports where ships generally keep their engines running to meet their power needs. This will soon come to an end—at least in Norway. From 2026, cruise ships entering the fjords will no longer be allowed to produce emissions. The European Union is following suit: from 2030, all combustion processes at quays in larger ports will be banned.

Safety

Digital twin for machine safety

Electricity replaces oil and diesel

While docked, the ship must be supplied with electricity. Zinus AS develops smart solutions for this purpose. This Norwegian company contributes to a more environmentally friendly port operation and significantly reduces emissions from ships in ports.

Gallery

But how does the more sustainable shore power get onto the ship or boat? With the Zinus Port Power. The shore power solution can be seamlessly integrated into various port environments and shines with simplified cable handling and connection: the cable can be lowered from above via a tower or over the ship's railing onto the deck using the charging solution.

Essential to the solution is a special cable developed jointly by Lapp, the leading provider of integrated solutions and brand products in cable and connection technology, and Zinus. It is used not only within the shore power solution but also in other cable management systems for port power.

Automatic connection

In previous shore power solutions, the cable was manually unrolled from a drum and dragged along the quay with great effort and high wear. Only a few ships were converted to the new technology, and for a long time, few ports had shore power facilities at all. One challenge is the wave motion, which can move ships significantly, as well as the tidal difference, which can be several meters. With Zinus Port Power, Zinus AS has overcome these challenges.

Zinus not only offers the compact Port Power but also so-called tower solutions. Their special feature: the towers can rotate 180 degrees and automatically adjust to tidal changes of up to 10 meters. This required an innovative cable that perfectly fits the design. "In Lapp, we found a partner who could provide us exactly with this solution: a cable that can withstand high electrical voltages and has a very small bending radius, while also being very flexible and as light as possible," says Endre Eidsvik, CEO of Zinus AS. The application in the harsh port environment also required a cable that can withstand extreme climatic conditions, such as UV radiation, very low temperatures, or contact with seawater.

Together with Zinus, Lapp developed the so-called Highflex for this application. "The colleagues at Lapp accepted the challenge we posed to them and developed exactly what we needed," says Eidsvik. The result of the collaboration is an innovative, lightweight, highly flexible, and high-quality high-voltage cable that can be easily handled and connected to the ship by any crew member. Boats and ferries can now be connected to the shore power supply within minutes using the charging solution.

The colleagues at Lapp accepted the challenge we posed and developed exactly what we needed.

Endre Eidsvik, CEO from Zinus AS

Tailor-made solutions from Lapp

Since the cable hangs in a loose arc from the tower, it cannot be torn even with strong ship movements. The space-saving design of the entire solution makes shore power available in both small harbors and large industrial quays. "Finding innovative solutions for customer-specific challenges is what Lapp stands for," says Matthias Lapp, CEO of the Lapp Group. "They reflect the inventive spirit that has always been deeply embedded in our DNA. At the same time, these solutions also demonstrate what great results are possible with the right partners."

In the successful collaboration between Lapp and Zinus, the Norwegian company also developed an autonomous charging pillar solution. Their pillar automatically moves into the correct position over the ship, lowers the connector, and automatically connects it to the ship's socket. The entire procedure takes only 20 seconds, making it particularly suitable for electric ferries whose batteries need to be charged quickly and efficiently. As for the further cooperation between Zinus and Lapp, both companies want to tackle more sustainable projects in the future and are confident: Det passer som hånd i hanske (literally: It fits like a hand in a glove. Idiomatically: It fits perfectly.).

Reduce the ecological footprint

For ports looking to reduce their ecological footprint, shore power solutions like those from Zinus AS are essential. Norway is a European leader in shore power and is implementing the environmentally friendly method of power supply nationwide. Gradually, ships and ferries will follow, with their machinery needing to be converted or replaced. Thus, the idea of clean shipping in the Norwegian fjords is becoming a reality piece by piece even in international waters.