At the terminal of the Italian group Grimaldi in the port of Barcelona the Onshore Power Supply plant has been installed which will allow ro-pax ships moored at the quay of turn off the on-board engines and connect to the electricity supply of significantly reducing emissions and noise produced by Ferries. The OPS plant, which will become operational in January, was built by Vinci Energies Spain and will allow to power two ferries at the same time by delivering a power 4 MVA expandable up to 6.5 MVA and adapting voltage and frequency to the specific needs of each ship.

Like the OPS installed at the port's BEST container terminal The one installed at the Grimaldi terminal will also operate for the first two years on an experimental basis. Coinciding with installation of the OPS system, the Grimaldi group has placed on the daily service that connects the port of Barcelona with the Balearic Islands the ferry Ciudad de Palma that was equipped to be connected with the Onshore Power Supply to the Sant Bertran quay. "Both Cruise and ECO ships used on the route with Italy - recalled Mario Massarotti, managing director for Spain of the Grimaldi group - have a battery system that allows the engines to be switched off when the ships are in port. Thanks to this new infrastructure, even the ferries of Trasmed, the group company that serves the market of the Balearic Islands, will cease to produce emissions in port".

The investment to equip the Grimaldi terminal with the OPS is amounted to 3.5 million euros and over the next five years the port Barcelona has planned investments of over 200 million to install the system on the main docks of the port harbour.