Global interest in H2 cluster

With Clean Port & Logi­stics (CPL), Ham­bur­ger Hafen und Logis­tik AG (HHLA) has crea­ted an inno­va­ti­on clus­ter to test hydro­gen-powered equip­ment in port logi­stics. On Fri­day, 28 Octo­ber 2022, part­ner com­pa­nies from all over the world atten­ded the vir­tu­al kick-off event. The aim of the pro­ject is to exami­ne how hydro­gen can be used to relia­bly sup­p­ly power to har­bour tech­no­lo­gy and port logistics.

Ange­la Titz­rath, Chair­wo­man of HHLA’s Exe­cu­ti­ve Board, wel­co­med the part­ner com­pa­nies to the event, say­ing: “I am deligh­ted that part­ners from various sec­tors, uni­ver­si­ties, cities and ports are working tog­e­ther in the Clean Port & Logi­stics inno­va­ti­on clus­ter. By poo­ling exper­ti­se across sec­tors, count­ries and con­ti­nents, we have a shared oppor­tu­ni­ty to acce­le­ra­te the tran­si­ti­on to emis­si­ons-free hea­vy goods logi­stics and port ope­ra­ti­ons. The best thing is that we are alre­a­dy sha­ping the future tog­e­ther today and thus set­ting ano­ther mile­stone in the decar­bo­ni­sa­ti­on of logistics.”

The inno­va­ti­on clus­ter aims to deve­lop solu­ti­ons to bring hydro­gen-powered hea­vy goods vehic­les and ter­mi­nal equip­ment to mar­ket quick­ly and to put in place the mea­su­res neces­sa­ry for their use. The con­cepts deve­lo­ped for ope­ra­ti­on, safe­ty, repair, main­ten­an­ce, refuel­ling and sup­p­ly are tes­ted and opti­mi­sed in prac­ti­cal ope­ra­ti­on. In addi­ti­on to theo­re­ti­cal inves­ti­ga­ti­ons, the clus­ter car­ri­es out tests and deve­lo­ps trai­ning concepts.

Mem­bers of the CPL inno­va­ti­on clus­ter are inte­res­ted com­pa­nies that are con­cer­ned with the decar­bo­ni­sa­ti­on of port hand­ling ope­ra­ti­ons and hea­vy goods trans­port. The­se include manu­fac­tu­r­ers and users of equip­ment (trucks, port hand­ling equip­ment, fil­ling sta­ti­ons, etc.), sup­pli­ers of hydro­gen and other fos­sil-free fuels, agen­ci­es respon­si­ble for logi­sti­cal infra­struc­tu­re (e.g. port aut­ho­ri­ties), con­sul­tanci­es, cer­ti­fi­ca­ti­on com­pa­nies and other ser­vice pro­vi­ders, as well as sci­en­ti­fic part­ners. Cur­rent mem­bers of the clus­ter include com­pa­nies from Ger­ma­ny, France, Spain, Ita­ly, Esto­nia and the USA.  Their col­la­bo­ra­ti­on in CPL will help them decar­bo­ni­se their pro­ces­ses and make meaningful, cli­ma­te-fri­end­ly invest­ments as they coll­ect the neces­sa­ry infor­ma­ti­on and prac­ti­cal expe­ri­ence. Par­ti­ci­pa­ti­on is open to all inte­res­ted com­pa­nies, who can still join the clus­ter even after the kick-off event.

The heart of the CPL inno­va­ti­on clus­ter is a test cent­re at HHLA Con­tai­ner Ter­mi­nal Tol­ler­ort in Ham­burg, whe­re hydro­gen-powered equip­ment can be tes­ted on actu­al port hand­ling ope­ra­ti­ons and hea­vy goods trans­port. Par­ti­ci­pan­ts can net­work with each other in the test envi­ron­ment. The first equip­ment deli­very is sche­du­led for ear­ly 2023. The equip­ment clas­ses plan­ned for the test envi­ron­ment are stradd­le car­ri­ers, emp­ty con­tai­ner sta­ckers, for­k­lifts, reach sta­ckers, ter­mi­nal trac­tor units and trucks. The test area is also open to test­ing of addi­tio­nal equip­ment clas­ses and faci­li­ties during ter­mi­nal ope­ra­ti­ons. The clus­ter is spon­so­red by the Fede­ral Minis­try of Trans­port and Digi­tal Infra­struc­tu­re as part of a natio­nal inno­va­ti­on pro­gram­me for hydro­gen and fuel cell tech­no­lo­gy. The fun­ding gui­de­lines are coor­di­na­ted by NOW GmbH and imple­men­ted by Pro­jekt­trä­ger Jülich (PTJ).

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