A strategic challege for the blue economy
The maritime industry, responsible for roughly 3% of global CO₂ emissions, is facing a critical sustainability challenge. The impact is especially visible in ports, where ship generators—often powered by diesel or heavy fuel oil—remain active while docked, producing both air pollution and noise.
Cold ironing, also known as shore power, is a technology that enables moored vessels to switch off their onboard generators and draw electricity directly from the onshore grid. By connecting ships to port-side electrical infrastructure, emissions and noise pollution can be drastically reduced while still ensuring full power supply to onboard systems—without burning fossil fuels. Internationally, this practice has been well established in military and cruise ports, but it has only recently begun to gain traction in commercial shipping hubs.
Italy, too, is moving in this direction. The National Cold Ironing Plan, supported by the Recovery and Resilience Facility (PNRR), allocates about €700 million in investments and involves around fifty ports. Some hubs—such as Gioia Tauro, La Spezia, Civitavecchia, Bari, and Taranto—have already launched their first electrification projects. However, Italy is starting from behind compared to Northern Europe and the United States. The real challenge will be twofold: accelerating infrastructure deployment while ensuring that these systems are built with efficient, reliable, and scalable technologies.
Why power electronics is the key
Behind every cold ironing system lies a technological core: power electronics. Converters, inverters, and energy storage systems must not only be reliable but also deliver high energy efficiency to lower operating costs and ensure grid stability.
At Prima Electro, we apply Silicon Carbide (SiC) technology across all our power electronics projects. Compared to conventional silicon-based solutions, SiC enables up to 50% reduction in energy losses, while offering components that are more compact, lightweight, and durable. This technological leap is what makes sustainable, cost-effective, and resilient shore power infrastructures possible.
Prima Electro solutions for port electrification
To transform ports into sustainable hubs, cold ironing is not just a technology - it is a philosophy built on flexible and high-performance solutions. Our approach is grounded in deep expertise in power electronics, enabling us to design platforms that meet today’s requirements while seamlessly adapting to future growth.
Our solutions are fully modular, scalable, and customizable, making them suitable for any port scenario—from small terminals to large commercial hubs - ensuring long-term efficiency and reliability:
- eSTORM: These bidirectional modules act as an intelligent “regulator” of the grid. With power ratings ranging from 15 to 50 kW, they enhance safety, efficiency, and the overall quality of the energy supplied to ships by stabilizing electrical parameters and optimizing energy consumption.
- eTHUNDER: These are our modular DC/DC converters, a versatile solution that can scale from 3.6 up to 500 kW. They are fully compatible with high-voltage storage systems and support Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) functionality, enabling electric vehicles to exchange energy with the port’s grid.
- eBESS: These are inverters specifically designed for battery storage systems. Available in both isolated and non-isolated configurations, they handle power levels from 15 to 50 kW to absorb load peaks during port operations, ensuring a stable and reliable power supply.
- eCHARGER20: These are 20 kW AC/DC modules, ideal for building efficient charging infrastructures that can scale up to 120 kW. They provide the perfect foundation for developing dedicated charging hubs and supporting the cold ironing infrastructure.
All these platforms share a common DNA: modularity, compactness, and high-power density. These are not just technical details, but essential elements that allow us to deliver solutions ready to evolve alongside the long-term decarbonization of ports.
Custom or standard?
Building on the previous considerations—and on the now undeniable need to electrify ports—it is legitimate to ask: why not adopt standard “off-the-shelf” products instead of investing in customized, tailor-made solutions?
- The advantages of standard solutions: lower upfront costs, faster delivery times, and wider availability on the market.
- The limitations: challenges in integrating into complex systems such as ports, reduced flexibility when facing specific requirements (high power levels, stringent EMC regulations, marine environments), and a lifecycle often not aligned with the long lifespan of port infrastructures.
Prima Electro’s solutions represent a valuable compromise: starting from proven technological building blocks, our platforms are configurable and adaptable to meet the customer’s specific requirements.
This approach allows us to shorten development time compared to a fully bespoke project, while overcoming the limitations of standard products. For the blue economy sector, the value of our solutions lies not only in technical performance: what we deliver is the ability to ensure reliability, regulatory compliance, and resilience in complex, high-critical scenarios.
