Starting the spring of 2023, a solar park on top of two warehouses became operational in HHLA TK Estonia’s terminal in Muuga port. On sunny months, the solar park’s production covers a considerable need for electricity consumption in the general cargo terminal.
“The solar park became operational in March and its total capacity is ca 240-kilowatt peak (kWp). The expected total production of the facility is 240 MWh annually,” said Arvi Lugenberg, the project manager at HHLA TK Estonia.
The solar energy produced in the terminal is used to cover the cooling and ventilation equipment’s electricity needs of the two warehouses, housing mainly grain, cocoa beans or wood pellets. The green energy can also be used for the nearby workshop as well as operating the dual-power mobile harbour crane commissioned at the terminal in October 2022, which can work both on electric motors and diesel engines.
“On sunny days in April and May we were able to produce 1300-1500 kilowatt-hours of green electricity. This in turn allowed us to cover 36 percent and 40 percent of the general cargo terminal’s monthly electricity needs respectively,” explained Arvi Lugenberg. “Additionally, at peak times, we sold local green electricity back to the grid of Muuga port.”
HHLA TK Estonia has started preparations to install two additional solar plants and increase the terminal’s production of green energy by about two times.
“Energy consumption is one of our biggest resource costs and thus energy efficiency is strongly in focus when we talk about sustainability,” noted Riia Sillave, the CEO of HHLA TK Estonia. “Additionally, when planning further activities and projects in this field, we follow the strategy of HHLA group to achieve climate neutrality by 2040.”
In the next phase, a 100 kWp solar park will be installed and the produced green electricity will be used to supply electricity for HHLA TK Estonia’s office building and container repair and maintenance workshop. In the future, a 400 kWp plant is planned to meet supply green electricity to container terminal's cranes.
The next planned production capacity is scheduled to be operational in the first half of 2024.
The parent company of HHLA TK Estonia, HHLA Group, in 2019 set a group-wide target to halve its CO2 emissions by 2030 and achieve full climate neutrality by 2040. HHLA’s CTA Terminal in Hamburg has been awarded a climate neutral certificate already in 2019 – based on maximum usage of green energy, drastic reduction of emissions and compensating the existing ecological footprint created by the fossil fuels still being used.
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