Photo: AIDA Cruises
Denmark’s King Frederik X officially inaugurated on Monday Copenhagen’s shore power facility for cruise vessels at an event at Copenhagen Malmö Port’s (CMP) cruise terminals at Oceankaj. The first ship connected to the facility was AIDAnova of AIDA Cruises, represented by president Felix Eichhorn.
As part of the ceremony, AIDAnova became the first cruise ship to be supplied with energy from shore during its laytime. This makes Copenhagen the 14th cruise port in Europe where AIDA ships use shore power.
With 73 calls by five AIDA ships in 2025, Copenhagen is one of the most important cruise ports in Northern Europe for AIDA Cruises.
The facility was developed by Udviklingsselskabet By & Havn and is now Europe’s largest of its kind. It complements CMP’s shore power facility inaugurated in 2021 at Søndre Frihavn for the Copenhagen-Oslo line.
Addresses were made by the EU Commissioner for Energy and Housing, Dan Jørgensen, Danish Minister for Transport Thomas Danielsen, and Lord Mayor of Copenhagen Lars Weiss.
At the quay, H.M. King Frederik X of Denmark declared the shore power facility open and called the ship’s bridge with the words “Turn the power on”.
Photo credit: Copenhagen Malmö Port (CMP)
“The inauguration of the cruise shore power facility in Copenhagen is a proud moment for Copenhagen Malmö Port and a key milestone in the green transition of the sector. We are excited to begin operating this facility and to provide shipping lines like AIDA Cruises with clean energy while at berth,” said Barbara Scheel Agersnap, CEO of Copenhagen Malmö Port.
“This initiative is fully aligned with our broader sustainability strategy, which includes fossil-free terminal operations and our ambition to reach net-zero CO₂ emissions by 2025,” she added.
