October 23, 2013 - Energy efficiency, cost of fuel and environmental aspects like noise and pollution levels are playing a key role for ship and port owners of the world. As approximately 90% of all world's commercial goods are delivered with ships today, the efficiency of the marine sector influences the cost and carbon footprint of nearly all commercial goods.

The Vacon NXP Grid Converter, a new product launched by the global AC drive manufacturer Vacon, represents the next step in the energy optimization ensuring that ship and port owners can meet the next level of energy efficiency while productivity increases and business prospers.

"The Vacon NXP Grid Converter can easily be integrated into various applications in ports and ships to provide cleaner power, improved performance and cost savings," says Jari Marjo, Marketing Director, Premium Drives. "This technology becomes increasingly important now that the marine business seeks all possible ways to improve their energy-efficiency, reduce fuel consumption, costs, harmful emissions, noise levels and vibration," Marjo continues.

Vacon has been developing applications for its marine customers with this technology for several years. Now the product is officially released to the market as part of Vacon's comprehensive product portfolio. Below are a couple of examples of the applications provided:

The Vacon NXP Grid Converter has successfully been used, for instance, in shore supply solutions including the Port of Shanghai, which enable ships to source electrical energy from local grids on the shore, meaning that main and auxiliary power generators can be switched off.

The Vacon NXP Grid Converter can also be used in shaft generator systems which allow optimum control of propulsion machinery at various speeds and at the same time generate electricity into the electrical grid of the ship.

Vacon is driven by a passion to develop, manufacture and sell the best AC drives and inverters in the world - and provide customers with efficient product lifecycle services. The company has production and R&D facilities in Europe, Asia and North America, and sales offices in 29 countries.