(Hamburg) – Freight traffic on the roads and in the hinterland of the port of Hamburg is to be switched from diesel to hydrogen. The initiators of this project called “Clean Cargo Connect” plan to install five new hydrogen filling stations and set up two mobile refueling solutions in order to close the “white spots” in the hydrogen supply between Hamburg and Bremen.
As part of “Clean Cargo”, five new hydrogen filling stations are to be built, among other things. Locations are at the port of Hamburg, at Maschener Kreuz (A1/A7), on the A27 in the Osterholz-Scharmbeck district (OHZ), in Buxtehude (B73) and Gyhum on the A1 in the Rotenburg Wümme district (ROW). Mobile tank trailers are planned in Stade on the B73/B74. © Connect_Grafik_H2.NON
Also on the wish list is the purchase of new hydrogen trucks and a two-megawatt electrolyser to produce the hydrogen for the filling stations regionally and primarily using electricity from wind and solar power plants. According to the Hamburg Authority for Economic Affairs and Innovation, more than 130 trucks could be supplied daily at the planned filling stations. The first H2 trucks are already available from the forwarding companies in the “Clean Cargo Connect” project consortium. By 2026, at least 30 new fuel cell vehicles are to be used by regional shipping companies, and by 2029 more than 150 vehicles.
The area around the port of Hamburg is “excellently suitable” for the project, emphasizes Hamburg State Councilor Andreas Rieckhof. Around 40 percent of the goods that reached Germany's largest seaport in 2021 were transported on by truck. Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) and the Lower Saxony Ministry of Economics, Transport, Building and Digitalization also support the project.
Federal funding required
However, federal funds are also required for implementation. According to the information, the total investment volume amounts to more than 32 million euros. The Hydrogen Network Northeast Lower Saxony (H2.NON) and the Renewable Energy Hamburg Cluster Agency (EEHH) are applying to the Federal Ministry of Digital and Transport for funding of 15 million euros from the federal program “HyPerformer II”. The ministry's decision is expected in April.
The eleven districts in the Lüneburg district (Lower Saxony) are responsible for the H2.NON network. In total, more than 120 members worked to reduce CO2 emissions using green hydrogen in transport, industry and agriculture, including municipalities and research institutions, users, manufacturers and service providers from the region.
Photos
A consortium is working to ensure that goods landed in Hamburg will in future be transported primarily using hydrogen trucks instead of diesel trucks. The picture shows the automated container warehouse at the HHLA Container Terminal Altenwerder. © HHLA / Thies Rätzke
