High voltage shore connections (HVSC), an IEC/ISO/IEEE 80005-1 compliant solution: The neutral grounding system

Air pollution regulations are forcing ports all over the world to implement Alternative Maritime Power (AMP) solutions to improve the air quality of port areas. At this aim, the port operators have to provide safe and reliable electrical connections to the docked ships. The IEC/ISO/IEEE 80005-1 standard identifies the global criteria that allow ships from all over the world to connect to the compliant ports. As underlined from the standard itself, the electrical connections shore to ship may generate risks, also considering that the interface area between the shore and the ship is a special location for electric shocks. These concerns regard not only the safety of the operators for ground fault interferences causing transferred touch potentials, but also the integrity of the ship itself that may be subjected to a galvanic corrosion. This paper analyzes the current grounding solutions and proposes the adoption of a TN-island system compliant with the international standard that allows reducing the risks for ship's corrosion due to DC currents and transferred touch potentials.