The big draw

Pulling on the power plans

The stability of the power supply does make a difference to terminal plans, explains ICTSI’s Tim Vancampen. “In certain places like Madagascar you need not just the generator backup, but a backup to your backup, as you can be left relying on the generators for days at a time.”

Further, he explains: “There are things that you have to choose, you have to make compromises about what you can do without.” For example, he says, for many export ports in Africa, the reefers are responsible for a large draw “and you can’t be left facing a court order because goods perished”, while he points out the offices may usually be left without aircon for a while without courting disaster.

But, he adds, you have to be very clear about keeping power running to critical systems: “While the terminal operating system servers aren’t a huge load in themselves, they need constant air conditioning,” he explains; in a hot climate this represents a substantial pull. Further as a facility simply can’t afford to have the TOS go down, it means a sizeable investment on an uninterruptable power supply (UPS) – basically a large battery bank – to guarantee a seamless changeover.

In emerging economies, the choices can be limited: Mr Vancampen explains that some port’s only real option is to sit tight with diesel-powered mobile harbour cranes, so despite the chance to electrify “you need to take into consideration the relative instability of the power supply”.