Hydrogen powered port equipment

The filling station will be built at the test centre for hydrogen-powered port logistics at the Container Terminal Tollerort (CTT) in the Port of Hamburg.

“Our commissioning of Linde Engineering to build the hydrogen filling station is the next milestone for our hydrogen activities in the Clean Port & Logistics cluster,” said Dr Georg Böttner, head of the HHLA Hydrogen Network.

”With the construction of the filling station, the required infrastructure is now being created to speed up the transition to emissions-free heavy goods logistics and port operations, and to drive forward the decarbonisation of logistics.”

Test bed

The hydrogen filling station is being developed within the scope of HHLA’s Clean Port & Logistics cluster to fuel hydrogen-powered heavy goods vehicles and terminal equipment and to test them in operation.

HHLA will operate the filling station as part of its cluster activities with the aim of creating a reliable refuelling infrastructure for heavy equipment in the Port of Hamburg. It also incorporates various options for expansion in the future.

At the heart of the filling station is an energy-efficient high-pressure ionic compressor that compresses the hydrogen up to 450 bar. This will allow equipment such as straddle carriers, empty container stackers, forklift trucks, reach stackers, terminal tractor units and trucks to be refuelled with hydrogen efficiently.

HHLA established Clean Port & Logistics (CPL) as an innovation cluster to test hydrogen-powered equipment in port logistics. 

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 filling station is expected to begin operation in 2023.