Pioneering a hydrogen test field in Hamburg

The new test field and corresponding hydrogen refuelling station in the Port of Hamburg means that HHLA, together with its partner companies from the Clean Port & Logistics cluster, can test the reliability of hydrogen to supply heavy goods vehicles during operations.

“We’re pleased to open the first test field for hydrogen-powered port logistics today. It enables us to test future technologies, gather valuable data and evaluate the results,” said Angela Titzrath, CEO of HHLA.

”In this way, we are shaping the sustainable future of logistics and continuing to invest in innovative technologies. We are sharing our findings with companies facing similar challenges in order to develop climate-friendly transport solutions together. Our objective is clear: We want to decarbonise the logistics sector and achieve our target of climate-neutral operations throughout the group by 2040.”

Hydrogen infrastructure

The new test field was opened in July by Ms Titzrath, together with Dr Melanie Leonhard, Senator for Economy and Innovation of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, Christian Maaß, Director of Heat, Hydrogen & Efficiency in the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, Antje Roß, manager port networks and applications, NOW GmbH and Dr Lucien Robroek, president of technology solutions division of Hyster-Yale Materials Handling.

The event was marked by the successful refuelling of a Hyster hydrogen-powered tractor unit.

Dr Volker Wissing, Federal Minister for Digital and Transport called the initiative at the Port of Hamburg ”a lighthouse project” for the use of hydrogen in port logistics.

”From forklift trucks to tractor units and trucks – the hydrogen infrastructure we are funding here is paving the way for climate-friendly logistics on site. I hope that the hydrogen test field will have a strong signalling effect thanks to the commitment of the port players. This is the only way we will succeed in making logistics in Germany climate-friendly,” he said.

Dr Melanie Leonhard, Senator for Economy and Innovation, said: “The opening is an important step for the Port of Hamburg. In future, it will enable the use of hydrogen-powered heavy goods vehicles at the terminals and beyond. The potential for the Port of Hamburg and the logistics sector is significant – for example, trucks that regularly come to the Port of Hamburg can also benefit from such an infrastructure in the future.”

“The test field helps us to gain important experience in this area. HHLA and its partners are thus continuing to drive forward the transformation and decarbonisation of handling and transport processes.”

Instrumental in the development of the the equipment being used in the project is HHLA’s project partner, port equipment manufacturer, Hyster. 

The first trials at the refuelling station were conducted with Hyster-Yale, VWG Oldenburg and CMB.TECH’s hydrogen truck.

Being a pioneer in the development of electric heavy-duty trucks, including container handling vehicles powered by Nuvera fuel cells, Hyster said it is actively working with HHLA to uncover new possibilities and learnings with the its hydrogen fuel cell-powered terminal tractor in a live port application.

“We continue to collaborate with forward thinking operations that are keen to explore new solutions as part of their journey towards both sustainability and efficiency,” says Dr Lucien Robroek, president of technology solutions division at Hyster-Yale Materials Handling.

Hyster has been talking more to GreenPort on the part that it’s playing in the project in the autumn issue of GreenPort – see page 14.

With the opening of the test field and inauguration of the hydrogen refuelling station, HHLA says that the required infrastructure is now ready to speed up the transition to emissions-free heavy goods logistics and port operations and to drive forward the decarbonisation of logistics.

Equipment such as straddle carriers, empty container stackers, forklift trucks, reach stackers, tractor units and trucks can be efficiently filled to 350 bar with green hydrogen. The refuelling station will be open to the public and thus also offers other companies the opportunity to test climate-friendly transport solutions.

The check-in at the terminal requires registration in the Passify app which is all part of HHLA’s efforts to streamine its port operations.

Passify is a big step towards making truck handling at Hamburg container terminals safer and more efficient. The app, developed by HHLA Next, innovation unit of HHLA, is gradually replacing the previous trucker card.

With the rollout of the app beginning HHLA at Container Terminal Tollerort, the test field truck drivers are now using the passify app for truck access to the test field and the refuelling station.

United front

Since 2022, HHLA said it has been working together with more than 40 partner companies from around the world in the Clean Port & Logistics cluster.

The common goal is to develop solutions to bring hydrogen-powered heavy goods vehicles and terminal equipment to market quickly, as well as to put in place the measures necessary for their use.

The cluster brings together equipment manufacturers, port and logistics companies, academic partners, producers of green hydrogen, software companies and operators and manufacturers of refuelling stations.

Through supra-regional cooperation, the cluster conducts tests and investigates how hydrogen can be reliably used as a fuel in port handling and heavy-lift logistics by carrying out simulations and investigations and developing training concepts for this purpose.

The concepts developed by the working groups for operation, safety, maintenance, refuelling and supply are tested and optimised in practical operation in the test field at CTT.

The cluster as well as the refuelling station received funding of approximately three million euros from the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport as part of a national innovation programme for hydrogen and fuel cell technology. The funding guidelines are coordinated by NOW GmbH and implemented by Project Management Jülich (PTJ).

As part of the “Balanced Logistics” sustainability strategy, HHLA is aiming to become climate-neutral throughout the Group by 2040. To achieve this, the operator has been relying on the electrification of its processes and equipment across Europe for many years.

HHLA said that hydrogen could make a significant contribution to the further decarbonisation of logistics. In addition to using hydrogen for its heavy goods equipment, HHLA is also active in the field of import and distribution.

With its extensive European network of seaport terminals and intermodal connections, HHLA certainly is very well equipped to take advantage of the opportunities in hydrogen import and transportation.

A pioneer for the widespread use of hydrogen

It’s not just the shipping and ports sectors that HHLA is working to both prove and test the efficacy of hydrogen as an alernative fuel for decarbonisation.

HPC Hamburg Port Consulting (HPC), a subsidiary of Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA), recently won the European tender for the project coordination of the “BSR Hydrogen Air Transport – Preparation of Baltic Sea Region Airports for Green Hydrogen” project.

The three-year EU-funded project aims to prepare airports in the Baltic Sea Region for the use of gaseous hydrogen for small and regional aircraft and ground equipment and to better connect them to existing aviation hubs.

Gaseous hydrogen is seen as one of the propulsion system of the future, especially for smaller aircraft with up to 80 seats.

In a total of three work packages, the project is investigating how airports in the Baltic Sea region can be prepared for its use. The focus is on the supply chain of hydrogen to the airport, its storage at the airport, refuelling in aircraft and ground vehicles, the design of handling processes in compliance with safety regulations and fire protection, as well as the consideration of legal framework conditions, economic efficiency and business plans.

A very similar project in fact to the hydrogen test field and refuelling station project at the Port of Hamburg.

Dr Olaf Zeike, project manager at HPC Hamburg Port Consulting, said: “In this project, we are able to successfully combine our expertise from aviation projects, the development of hydrogen logistics chains, co-funding management and the experience of multi-year coordination of Interreg projects for the benefit of the intended project success.”

“We support the climate goals of the project partners and are pleased to be able to make a tangible contribution to the decarbonisation of aviation and the revitalisation of regional air transportation.”