Air Products, Hamburg Port agree hydrogen partnership

Hamburg Port Authority (HPA) and US industrial gases producer Air Products (NYSE:APD) have agreed to jointly explore opportunities to build up a comprehensive value chain for hydrogen at the port of Hamburg.

With the collaboration, the two partners are seeking to speed up the expansion of hydrogen production, supply chains and support consumption in Northern Germany and Hamburg in a bid to drive the decarbonisation of heavy-duty vehicles, including port logistics, and industry, HPA said on Friday.

“The HPA is committed to future-proof and innovative technologies and their use in the port, thus supporting decarbonization and the City of Hamburg's Clean Air Plan. This MoU is a further step on our way to taking concrete action here,” said HPA's chief executive Jens Meier.

Hamburg is one of five northern German states that joined hands to develop a competitive hydrogen economy and create the necessary conditions for climate protection and value creation in the north of the country. Being Germany's largest industrial location in terms of revenue and Europe's third-largest port, the city combines decisive advantages to establish a hydrogen economy. Its geographical proximity to the offshore wind farms in the North Sea allows the conversion of excess green electricity into hydrogen on-site without major losses while the existing port infrastructure creates the conditions for future import capacity.

The port city aims to curb carbon emissions by 55% by 2030 and reach carbon neutrality by 2050. Emissions should fall by 1.6 million tonnes in the industry and 1.4 million tonnes in the area of transport by the end of the decade as compared with 2017.

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