ENEPORTS project: the Port of Ferrol will be a pioneer in demonstrating how digitalization and artificial intelligence (AI) are turning ports into platforms for generating renewable energy at competitive prices and in innovation laboratories renewable energy. It will be within the framework of the initiative ENPORTSa European consortium led by the Technological Institute of Galicia (ITG) that aims to demonstrate the essential role of digitalization in the decarbonization of ports and in the efficient consumption and generation of renewable energy.
The project ENPORTS will promote the establishment of three pilot projects; next to Ferrol, in the docks of Granadilla (Tenerife) and Leixões (Porto). Thus, over the three years of this initiative, three intelligent digital platforms will be designed, laboratory tested and deployed to manage new sources of information. renewable energy and consumption in the three ports, allowing more than 72,250 tonnes of CO₂ to be avoided annually – equivalent to the annual emissions of 16,800 people –, contributing to the purity of the air in the urban areas of Ferrol, southern Tenerife and Postage .
The installation in Ferrol is specific to Ferrol wind and photovoltaic energy on land with a capacity to produce more than 43 GWh/year, energy needed to power more than 4,300 Galician households. For its part, in Leixões, in addition to these technologies, a wave energy prototype will be added, and the sum of the three will generate more than 20 GWh annually, equivalent to feeding more than 6,100 Portuguese households.
In Granadilla is the source of the offshore wind and waves to produce more than 200 GWh per year, which can feed more than 21,700 households in Tenerife. In total, the ports of Ferrol, Granadilla and Leixões plan to install more than 70 megawatts by 2030.
And this initiative also promotes the innovation in new renewable technologieswhen studying the feasibility of using devices in ports that generate photovoltaic, hydraulic energy and that generated by the tension of the mooring ropes. In addition, research is being done into how control can be improved with machine learning techniques. All this ensures that the three ports can be CO2 neutral by around 2035.
Decarbonizing ports through renewable energy sources
This pilot led by the ITM Technology Center is based on the development of an intelligent platform for energy monitoring and management. The deployment in the port of Ferrol is the way to demonstrate the viability of the port in practice renewable energy port communities. This platform will use predictive algorithms, digital twins, machine learning and advanced analytical tools to efficiently monitor energy flows and the rules of the internal energy market, while ensuring interoperability and cybersecurity.
Part of the novelty of the project lies in creating replicable methodologies for port authorities regarding industry and government involvement; to the evaluation of the economic, environmental, social and technological impacts of hybrid systems; and increasing awareness of the benefits and social acceptance of green ports.
In the words of Santiago Rodríguez Charlón, Director of ITM’s Energy Space: “ITG leads this consortium and provides the intelligent energy management platform developed for this purpose energy communitieswhich we will adapt per port area together with our partners and port authorities, installing specific monitoring and control systems and developing digital twins of the ports. renewable systems. We also support port authorities in designing the methodology for the use of renewable laboratories.”
ENEPORTS project
In a medium-sized Atlantic port, powering moored ships with fossil fuels represents between 80% and 95% of the emissions of the entire port area. For this reason, ports plan to provide ships with a power supply solution during docking, known as cold iron u OPS (power supply on land).
This progress poses several technological challenges for ports, including the integration of new consumption into the electricity grid and the new renewable sourcesand its energy management. They also provide opportunities to create new services, markets and infrastructure that can benefit their customers, their concessionaires and their neighbors.
The initiative ENPORTS It was established to study these challenges and opportunities in Atlantic ports, their potential impact, and propose methodologies and recommendations to address these challenges, seize the opportunities and manage the impact; including creating test zones for new technologies renewable generationthe installation of OPS, the formation of internal energy markets, and the electricity management with storagedigitalization and artificial intelligence.
The most relevant lasting effect of ENPORTS will be the economic improvement of the regions where the pilots are carried out. And decarbonization and digitalization initiatives in ports can encourage the deployment of new port prototypes blue/green energy and the installation of new industrial operators, electro-intensive industries and manufacturers renewable energyattracted by the green energy at competitive prices, promoting innovation, investment and retraining of workers in the vicinity of port areas; taking into account environmental and social needs, and Reduce CO₂ emissions and pollution in port environments in accordance with European regulations.