Shore Connection is an innovative tool designed to eliminate CO2 emissions by connecting boats in ports directly to the land based electrical grid. Despite its Anglo-Saxon name, it is a ‘Made in Italy’ brand, having been designed and produced by Imesa (www.imesaspa.com), a company in the Schiavoni group, which is active in the electromechanical construction field.

It is an innovative type of electrical panel that Imesa has planned and created to respond to ecological turnaround taking place in European ports. New EU regulations require a drastic reduction in emissions of pollutants, which are generally caused by boats that, once docked in port, keep their generators operating, and therefore their motors are left on, to provide electrical current to heating, lighting and refrigeration systems on board. The solution lies in connecting the boat directly to the electrical grid on land, but this is no easy task, given the variety of frequencies and very high power needed. Shore Connection was created for this reason, as it acts as an interface between the boats’ main distribution panel and the sockets on land. Thanks to this system, boats can power their on-board services with their motors turned off, eliminating pollutant emissions. The new Shore Connection, the company explains, is an adaptation of a consolidated product (the Imesa has produced for years) to meet the new demands of green ports, not only to comply with regulations, but to meet the needs of ports that are particularly environmentally aware.

The system came out of the Imesa workshop about a year ago, and an agreement was recently signed with Fincantieri to supply three new cruise ships. At the moment, the company explains, the focus is on the off-shore sector, but there are plans to work on-shore as well by managing the infrastructure requirements of ports on land. As well as Fincantieri, in the past few months Imesa concluded agreements with Imtech, integrator of the Dutch system, for a prototype of a military ship, with the Genoa offices of the Abb Group for three prototypes for cruise ships, and with Sam Electronics, integrator of the German system, for a prototype of a mega-yacht and seven for working boats. The total amount of orders Shore Connection has received is equal to about one million euro.

With a turnover of 30 million euro and around 250 employees, Imesa has worked in the electromechanical construction field since 1972, and over the years it has earned a leading position within Europe for the production of low and medium voltage electrical panels, supervision and control systems and turnkey electrical systems. At present, the most attractive foreign markets are the United Arab Emirates, Russia and Brazil. The company, which spends 6% of its annual turnover on research and development, is increasingly involved in the renewable energy and environmental sustainability sector, and is the core business of the Schiavoni group, which was established in Ancona in the 1960s. Even now, more than fifty years after its creation, the entrepreneur Sergio Schiavoni is still the point of reference for the group and its entire business system, which is currently in its second and third generation, marking significant points of its endurance. In 2010 the total turnover of the Schiavoni Group amounted 119 million euro, with 750 direct employees and another 100 including related goods and services.