Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) and Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to explore the development of a reliable and cost-effective supply chain for green liquid hydrogen via the Port of Hamburg to the European hinterland.
The collaboration is designed to enable the import of liquid hydrogen from hydrogen-producing countries to Germany, reinforcing Hamburg’s role as a hub for sustainable energy logistics.
“Hydrogen is one of the keys to a climate-neutral future – and we at HHLA are committed to actively shaping this transformation,” said Annette Walter, chief financial officer, Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA).
“Liquid hydrogen plays a central role in this, as it can be transported independently of pipelines – a decisive advantage for mobility, logistics, aviation and especially for small and medium-sized companies. Our goal is to reliably supply the industry with hydrogen via our European logistics network.”
Increased availability
The partnership with Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Daimler Truck is an important step toward making liquid hydrogen more widely available and jointly advancing decarbonisation.
Over the coming months, the partners will assess the logistical requirements for transshipment and onward transport by road and rail.
It’s an initiative which also seeks to attract additional companies and institutions to form a consortium that spans the entire hydrogen value chain.
The partners bring complementary expertise to the table: Kawasaki Heavy Industries as an experienced technology provider in the field of hydrogen infrastructure, HHLA as a European network logistics provider and Daimler Truck as a global commercial vehicle manufacturer with a focus on CO2-neutral battery-electric and hydrogen-based drive systems.
Kawasaki is working together with government agencies and related companies, both in Japan and overseas, to develop technology for the early establishment of a hydrogen supply chain from production to transportation, storage and usage.
A key part of this strategy is the commissioning of liquid hydrogen (LH2) carrier ships in different sizes (small, medium and large) with up to 160,000 m3 of liquid hydrogen on board and in the future ships comparable to todays LNG carriers.
HHLA is aiming to become climate-neutral throughout the group until 2040. As a European logistics group, HHLA is also positioning itself in the area of importing and distributing hydrogen. With its network extending from various seaports to the European hinterland, the company is well positioned to seize new opportunities in the field of hydrogen import and
Daimler Truck meanwhile is pursuing a dual-track strategy with both battery-electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles. Since 2021, the company has been developing and testing its Mercedes-Benz GenH2 Truck prototypes equipped with fuel cells, demonstrating their reliability and performance for flexible, long-haul transport.
It recently concluded initial customer trials, with a fleet of five GenH2 Trucks collectively covering more than 225,000 kilometers in actual operations. Building on this success, a second phase of trials with the same fleet and different customers is planned for the upcoming year.
The company aims to achieve large-scale industrialisation of fuel cell technology and commence series production of hydrogen-powered trucks, initially targeting the European market, in the early 2030s.
