Ricerc@Sapienza

This paper presents a strategy to avoid peak demand rising and energy management due to existing cranes at container terminals (CT). The new generation of the Ship to Shore (STS) cranes installed at the port of Long Beach (POLB) are equipped with the capabilities to absorb up to 90% of the regenerative energy (RE). Hence, a percent of RE is fed into the dc-bus in an STS Crane and deliver to the Ultracapacitor (UC) bank energy storage system (ESS).

The use of energy storage with high power density and fast response time at container terminals (CTs) with a power demand of tens of megawatts is one of the most critical factors for peak reduction and economic benefits. Peak shaving can balance the load demand and facilitate the participation of small power units in generation based on renewable energies. Therefore, in this paper, the economic efficiency of peak demand reduction in ship to shore (STS) cranes based on the ultracapacitor (UC) energy storage sizing has been investigated.

The efficient integration of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) in the actual electrical grid has gained recently a high attention in the Smart Grids (SGs) research topic. The evolution of existing electric distribution networks into SGs can be accomplished gradually and conveniently through the installation of local grid-connected Microgrids (MGs), usually installed nearby the RESs and provided by Energy Storage Systems (ESSs). Each MG is in charge to manage connected RES, assuring the local power demand, as well as the safety and stability of the electric grid.