Port of Rotterdam, partners launch Condor H2 

The Port of Rotterdam, together with the Province of Zuid Holland and more than 40 partners, has launched a project for emission-free inland and near-shore shipping on hydrogen, Condor H2.

As explained, Condor H₂ will provide fuel-cells with a battery pack as well as hydrogen storage on a pay-per-use basis to enable ships to operate emission-free with limited up-front investments for ship owners. The hydrogen will be delivered in ‘tanktainers’ which can be easily loaded on board vessels and quickly swapped when empty, allowing maximum flexibility for longer journeys. 

The project aims to facilitate the sailing of 50 emission-free vessels by 2030, targeting a CO₂ reduction of 100,000 tons per year.

To realize this, 6 ports and more than 40 partners, spanning the entire value chain from hydrogen suppliers and distributors to technology providers and shipowners, will be included in the project.

The partners include Air Products, Ballard, Blue H Engineering, bp, Concordia Damen, De Vlaamse Waterweg, DFDS, EICB, ENGIE, Eoly Energy, FinCo Fuel, Future Proof Shipping, H2Storage, HTS, INEOS, Linde, Marin, Maritime Academy Harlingen, Naval Inland Navigation, Nedstack, Municipality of Nijmegen, North Sea Port, NPRC, NPROXX, and Port of Duisburg.

The project participants are also Port of Amsterdam, Port of Antwerp-Bruges, the Province of Noord Holland, Rotterdam Shortsea Terminal, Samskip, Schenk Tanktransport, Shell, STC, Theo Pouw, UMOE, VT Group, VITRITE Middelburg,  and Zepp Solutions.

The project is driven by a steering group of the Province of Zuid Holland, Port of Rotterdam, WaterstofNet and Rabobank. 

“Hydrogen is already being tested in shipping, but the time has come to take action towards large-scale implementation,” said Nico van Dooren, Director New Business of the Port of Rotterdam.

“By offering a modular, scalable and affordable solution, Condor H₂ will make it technically and economically feasible to switch to zero-emission shipping on the key shipping routes in north-west Europe.”

“It is promising to see the developments RH₂INE partners now are making within this purpose driven network of like-minded partners. Condor finds itself in a network of frontrunners who are willing and able to scale up,” stated Jeannette Baljeu, Deputy of the Province of Zuid Holland.

The project is part of the RH₂INE network, a cooperation between ports, regional governments and market parties along the Rhine corridor, ranging from Belgium and the Netherlands up to Switzerland.

In a separate statement, the Port of Rotterdam announced it is joining 14 universities, innovation hubs and other ports  to jointly accelerate hydrogen innovation.

An agreement was officially signed by Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, 14 organizations from Australia, Brazil, Chile, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

The partners joined forces to share research and new technologies on the one hand, and to scale new business models (startups and scaleups) in hydrogen on the other hand. 

Besides focusing on sharing information and startups, the initiator of this global network hopes that it brings even more impact.

Mare Straetmans, founder of Platform Zero stated that “obviously it would be great if this network accelerates international cooperation.”

“We hope that organizations joining this network, meet each other, share knowledge and from that start to engage in research and startup projects together. This would really “unlock” the potential of this global network to the fullest extent.”