Photo: HHLA
While the Hamburg Parliament “live” about the investment of the Geneva-based Mediterranean Shipping Company MSC in the city's HHLA, the terminal operator is also generating discussion from a purely technical perspective by advancing hydrogen technology.
Within the Clean Port & Logistics cluster, HHLA, together with 50 other companies, aims to accelerate the market readiness of hydrogen technology through real-world applications. At the beginning of the year, Linde Engineering was commissioned to build a hydrogen refueling station as part of a test center for hydrogen-powered port logistics at the Tollerort Container Terminal (CTT).
The HHLA Hydrogen Network was launched back in 2020. It provides the framework for all of HHLA's hydrogen activities. The Clean Port & Logistics Innovation Cluster (CPL) followed in 2022. Together with international companies from various sectors, from container logistics to the automotive industry, aspects of hydrogen utilization are being researched and tested. Hydrogen technology will be just one of several applications for carbon-neutral energy technologies in the future, says Monja Grote, project manager at the Hydrogen Network, in HHLA's in-house magazine.
Image: HHLA magazine
“Wherever electrification makes sense, it should be implemented. However, there are numerous sectors where electrification isn't so straightforward – this is where hydrogen-based solutions demonstrate their strengths.” As an example from the field of port logistics, she cites large container logistics equipment such as van carriers. These high-clearance container transporters have long been equipped with electric drive and lifting motors. Currently, the electricity for these motors is supplied by diesel engines coupled to a generator, known as gensets. In the future, a fuel cell will electrochemically convert hydrogen into electricity and use it to power the motors.
How this could look in concrete terms can be seen at the hydrogen filling station, which Linde Engineering has been commissioned to build and in which vehicles are to be supplied with compressed hydrogen gas – part of the Clean Port & Logistics cluster test operation, which is planned for the years 2023 to 2025.
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The heart of the filling station is an ionic compressor that efficiently compresses the hydrogen to 450 bar. Equipment such as straddle carriers, empty container stackers, forklifts, reach stackers, terminal tractors, and trucks can then be efficiently refueled with hydrogen. The project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Transport.
