H for Rotterdam

Exporting countries have agreed to work with the port of Rotterdam and a group of companies to boost hydrogen production.

The Port of Rotterdam has made the ambitious claim that it can supply northwest Europe with 4.6 million tonnes of hydrogen a year by 2030 - ‘considerably more than expected’.

Working with 70 major companies, authorities and other ports, including the likes of Duisport, Shell, Thyssenkrupp, RWE and Eon, port spokesman Sjaak Poppe said in a statement that the amount of hydrogen had been determined on the basis of specific projects and plans that companies and exporting countries were already working on. ”Several companies are working on concrete projects aimed at launching large-scale production of electrolytic hydrogen powered by North Sea wind power between 2024 and 2026,” Poppe said. ”Together, all of the projects and plans would be good for 2.5GW of electrolysis by 2030 and produce 0.25 Mt of green hydrogen. A project to produce low-carbon hydrogen from refinery gas is also under way. This would mean a total of 0.6 Mt of hydrogen could be produced locally by 2030.”

To supply end-users in northwest Europe with such large volumes of hydrogen will necessitate a pipeline infrastructure, which will begin within coastal industrial clusters and between ports and inland industrial clusters, the statement says.

“This will allow us to transport hydrogen from Rotterdam to steel, chemical, cement and industries at large as well as to filling stations to fuel trucks and barges,” Poppe says.

While the project is undertaken, energy will still need to be imported because Europe does not have the capacity to produce enough renewable energy to meet 2030 and 2050 targets.

“The sooner Europe starts replacing imports of oil, gas and coal with imports of green and low carbon energy, the sooner it will achieve European climate and energy independence objectives,” the statement says.

There are two ‘crucial conditions’ to meet before goals can be achieved - the certification of hydrogen to ensure importing hydrogen adds value; and the closing of the cost gap between renewables and lowcarbon hydrogen and carbon dioxide-emitting alternatives, ie fossil fuels.

“We are convinced that together we can accelerate the development of the hydrogen economy in Rotterdam and NW Europe,” says Poppe’s statement. ”Current efforts are directed at further detailing plans to organise and implement all parts of the supply chain.”

HYDROGEN PLANS LAID OUT BY ROTTERDAM

8 Port of Rotterdam

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STOLT TANKERS SIGNS MOU FOR SHOREPOWER STUDY

The largest chemical tanker fi rm in the world is to carry out a six-month feasibility study at the Port of Rotterdam

Stolt Tankers and the Port of Rotterdam will examine the use of shore-based power for chemical tankers at the Vopak Botlek terminal so that while in port, tankers can switch off their diesel generators and switch to mains power, which ideally would be from a renewable source.

”As chemical tankers are required to comply with higher safety standards than many other types of vessels, the results of this study will be important for the whole chemical tanker industry,” says Stolt. ”The project poses several significant technical hurdles, which make it unique. The aim of the feasibility study is to discover effective solutions to these challenges that can be used to form the basis of an agreed international standard.”

As chemical tankers are required to comply with higher safety standards than many other types of vessels, the results of this study will be important for the whole chemical tanker industry

“We have identified several ships with the potential to take part in the trial, which if successful will also present opportunities for our ships calling at ports to plug into power from renewable sources,” said Stolt President Lucas Vos.

While stressing the potential of shorepower to reduce emissions, the company did warn that it will only be viable if the industry can agree a single standard. ”Shipowners will need confirmation that their ships can safely and reliably connect to shorepower in multiple ports before investing in the necessary ship adjustments, which is why it is essential to design a standardised solution in partnership with other leading organisations,” the company said.

Stolt Tankers also announced that it had agreed to buy another three tankers, to be delivered between this July and September.

The three 33,600 dwt stainless steel chemical tankers will be built in Japan.

“This acquisition is an excellent opportunity for Stolt Tankers to secure competitively priced tonnage ahead of an expected cyclical upturn in the chemical tanker industry,” said Stolt Tankers President Lucas Vos. ”The newly added ships will lower our fleet age profile and can trade in any of our deep-sea lanes increasing flexibility across our fleet.”

Stolt claims to have the world’s largest fleet of chemical parcel tankers with 160 ships, including more than 70 deep sea ships integrated with regional fleets in Europe, Asia and the Caribbean.

As well as coastal fleets, Stolt operates inland barging services in Europe and the US Gulf.

8 From left:

Boudewijn Siemons, COO, Port of Rotterdam; Walter Moone, MD, Vopak Rotterdam Botlek; Lucas Vos, President, Stolt Tankers

UK port expands transport depot

Liverpool Port’s transport depot is set for a major expansion to be completed by November.

A multi-million pound expansion to the transport depot at the UK’s Port of Liverpool has been agreed with Peel Ports Group and Maritime Transport Ltd, the port and inland rail terminal network provider.

The project will see the size of the facility increase from four acres to 10 with a new storage yard for loaded containers, ’significantly enhancing Maritime’s operation in the northwest’, says Maritime. It will enable optimum storage for up to 2,000 TEU.

The new transport depot, offices and driver facilities will be completed in November, the company estimates. ”The Port of Liverpool has established itself as a key gateway for our customers over the years, and we are excited to be bringing high quality storage space and even greater capability and choice to the market as we see an increase in demand for our services,” said John Williams, Group Executive Chairman, Maritime Transport.

A towed streamer seismic survey is currently being carried out in Liverpool Bay along with an Uncrewed Survey Vessel, which is currently undertaking surveys around the port, accompanied by the guard vessel Silver Harvester. Operations should be completed by May 21.

8 LIverpool Port

The consortium behind a novel concept to supply shorepower is on the brink of building a prototype to test its technology.

The BlueStor project has come up with detailed plans to install a floating organic flow battery for port energy storage that is installed on a floating barge.

The next step, if its application for Phase 2 funding is successful, is to build a precommercial prototype that will be big enough to store energy and provide shorepower for two cruise ships at the Port of Portsmouth.

MSE International, a sector consortium for marine industries, is working with International Flow Battery Forum founder and consultancy Swanbarton, organic flow battery firm CMBlu and design and engineering consultancy Houlder under a programme funded by the UK government – the Longer Duration Energy Storage Demonstration Programme (LODES).

It believes that flow batteries, in which a stack of electro-chemical cells convert electricity into chemical energy that is then stored in electrolytes in external tanks. To supply ships, the flow of energy goes back the other way.

The feasibility study in Phase 1, BlueStor claims, shows that although the energy density of each cell is relatively low, a large-scale 50MW, 600MWh installation would actually be more compact that a lithium-ion battery equivalent because the low fire and explosion risk of organic flow batteries allows much tighter packing.

FLOATING BATTERIES COULD PROVIDE SHOREPOWER

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