TN-grounding systems for the emerging cold ironing: multiple grounded system vs island system

The commercial routes interconnection in maritime world transport requires common criteria for the standardization of shore connection's rules in port areas. A brief focus on the part 1: High Voltage Shore Connection (HVSC) Systems (IEC-ISO-IEEE 80005-1) has been presented that is an example of global harmonization. This paper reports the cold ironing system issues due to the grounding systems. Several aspects must be taken into account as transferred touch potentials according to the workers safety for interferences due to the ground loops. The same standard 80005-1 highlights the problem about the ship's integrity related to galvanic corrosion. The goal of this paper is to show the current TN-system multiple grounding solutions adopted and to discuss the introduction of a TN-island system for HVSC, showing the decrease of the risks for corrosion of the ships and the transfer of touch potentials.