Nidec ASI, part of the Energy & Infrastructure Division of the Nidec Group and one of the groups committed to economic development with a view to greater sustainability, consolidates its growth in Europe in the sector of electric mobility by winning the tender for implementing a “shore-to-ship” project for the Port of Sète, in the south of France.
The company has in fact signed a contract worth €2.5 million with Port Sud de France, aimed at setting up innovative electrical power systems that will allow ships moored in the port to draw the energy required to be fully operational from the quays, without the need to keep their polluting and noisy on-board diesel engines running.
The project will thus have a positive impact on the quality of life of local communities and on tourism, a key sector in the French economy, while also complying with EU directives, which will become binding by 2025, and which stipulate that all European ports must adopt electrification systems for port quays.
About the project at the French port
The port of Sète is located along the coast of the Gulf of Lion (in Mediterranean France), in the Hérault region. It is a multifunctional port, which offers a commercial area, an area dedicated to fishing boats and a recreational craft area, which spreads throughout the city area.
The French port will house 3 turnkey power supply systems which will be developed to power 3 different quays, consisting of converters and transformers developed in the Milan and Montebello plants, which will allow adapting the voltage and frequency of the supply network to what is required by the ships.
The French plants of the Roche La Molière and Istres Group will instead act as system integrators, managing all the engineering and project management activities, as well as the commissioning, monitoring, control and maintenance of the plant.
These systems are characterized by their ease of installation and connection to the network and by their compactness, which allows reducing their environmental impact. Delivery of the converters is scheduled for July 2023 and commissioning of the systems by November 2023.
Electric power is the future of ports…
…and beyond
This new project, go together with other shore-to-ship systems implemented in Italy (in Genoa, Savona, La Spezia, Leghorn and Taranto), in France (in Toulon) and in Malta, those in the development phase in Greece and Spain.
Other major initiatives are the supply of storage battery systems for onboard energy for full-electric and hybrid cargo ships, ferries and yachts (with the possibility of providing automatic fast-recharging from land), and solutions for automating cranes used in ports.
All of these initiative show the Nidec ASI commitment in the evolution of the maritime and port sector towards all-electric, so key to navigation and logistics that are increasingly green and sustainable.
The Group is also fully-active in the transport and logistics sector through promoting the development of electric cars utilizing an ultra-fast recharging system for e-vehicles and a recently launched Ultra-Fast charging station.
For over 40 years, it has also been creating ropeway systems with the goal of making them an increasingly-utilized system of public transport, while also supplying systems for recharging electric buses and passenger transport via tram/trolley.
