The electric networks of ships have specific characteristics compared to those of the terrestrial grids. The predominant one is the way of earthing (grounding), which affects the protection scheme designed to operate. Unlike in land, shipboard earthing schemes are either “Isolated Terra -IT” or “High Resistance Grounded – HRG” and attempt to limit the value of fault currents flowing during the most frequently occurring single-phase to-ground faults. Moreover, the difference between ship and shore grids is transformed into an incompatibility when the shore-to-ship interconnection (cold ironing) is applied necessitating the development of challenging technical solutions.
Active Committees/Task Forces of Interest
- IEEE PES Marine Systems Coordinating Committee
- IEEE IAS Petroleum and Chemical Industry Committee (PCIC)
- Chair: Paul Sullivan ()
- Marine Industry Subcommittee
- Chair: Ms Karen Johnson
- IEEE Standards Association: Industry Connections – Sustainable Maritime
- IEEE 45.1-2023: IEEE Recommended Practice for Electrical Installations on Shipboard–Design
- This Working Group is under IEEE IAS Petroleum and Chemical Industry Committee (PCIC)
- Working Group Chairs: Dr Norbert Doerry (For: 45.1 and 45.3) and Moni Islam (45.7)
Technical Reports & Applicable Papers or Presentations
Standards:
- 80005-1-2019 – IEC/IEEE International Standard – Utility connections in port — Part 1: High voltage shore connection (HVSC) systems — General requirements
- 80005-2-2016 – IEC/IEEE International Standard – Utility connections in port — Part 2: High and low voltage shore connection systems — Data communication for monitoring and control
- A closer look at the grounding of shore-to-ship power supply system (2009 IEEE Industrial & Commercial Power Systems Technical Conference)
- An examination of mutual influences between high-voltage shore-connected ships and port earthing systems during phase-to-ground faults (2011 IEEE Electric Ship Technologies Symposium)
- TN-Grounding Systems for the Emerging Cold Ironing: Multiple Grounded System vs Island System (2018 IEEE International Conference on Environment and Electrical Engineering and 2018 IEEE Industrial and Commercial Power Systems Europe)
- Research on Grounding Mode of Ship Medium Voltage AC/DC Hybrid Power System (2017 International Conference on Computer Systems, Electronics and Control)
- MVDC grounding and common mode current control (2017 IEEE Electric Ship Technologies Symposium)
- Shipboard electrical system grounding (2015 IEEE Electric Ship Technologies Symposium)
- High voltage shore connections (HVSC), an IEC/ISO/IEEE 80005-1 compliant solution: The neutral grounding system (2016 IEEE Industry Applications Society Annual Meeting)
- Research on human factors of ship grounding accident based on HFACS (2023 7th International Conference on Transportation Information and Safety)
- Study on the economic channel design for LNG ships using Pedersen grounding model (2017 4th International Conference on Transportation Information and Safety)
- High Resistance Grounding Systems in MV Shipboard Power Systems (2022 IEEE 2nd International Conference on Sustainable Energy and Future Electric Transportation)
Publications
Transaction Papers on IEEE Xplore:
- High-Voltage Shore Connection Systems: Grounding Resistance Selection and Short-Circuit Currents Evaluation (IEEE Transactions on Transportation Electrification, Volume: 8, Issue: 2, June 2022)
- Performance of Shipboard Medium-Voltage DC System of Various Grounding Modes Under Monopole Ground Fault (IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, Volume: 51, Issue: 6, Nov.-Dec. 2015)
Other Available Material
Books:
- Design of Shipboard Power System Grounding / Earthing
- Authors: Norbert Doerry; Mohammed Islam ; John Prousalidis
- Published by Wiley-IEEE Standards Association
Webinars:
- “High Resistance Grounding Options for Shipboard Power Systems” Presented by Michael McClelland and Moni Islam.
- Note: An IEEE Standards Association iMeet Central account is required to view the webinar materials.
Upcoming Tutorials:
- The role of power systems in the sustainable decarbonization of the maritime sector (IEEE PES GM 2025)
- The effect of electrical networks upon ship electrification (IEEE ESTS 2025 Conference)