Rules and regulations A new European directive can help. Regulation is a challenge in this. The hope is that the enforcement for hydrogen in inland shipping on EU level will not take longer than, for example, the rules on the use of LNG in inland shipping – that took seven years. The preliminary work that RH₂INE has now done gives a head start. Theben: “RH₂INE works with a real ‘bottom-up’ approach. We are supporting the European Commission by getting started and paving the ground. We do so by developing a proposal for regulations in close collaboration with European institutions responsible for standard setting in inland shipping (CESNI). We are not waiting for regulations and policy. RH₂INE is a driving force.” The European Commission does not have to start from scratch for regulation. RH₂INE is a forerunner in the field of hydrogen on inland waterways in Europe and therefore speaks with one uniform, strong voice towards Europe. “We make proposals for which guidelines there should be, we have that experience from RH₂INE. And we hope that the Commission finds it useful, supports the application within the European Union and thus facilitates a standardized approach,” says Theben.
Budget But not only policy is needed from Europe, budget would also be more than welcome to help RH₂INE and thus the inland shipping and transport sector further. Theben: “With the new European Commission and European Parliament, we hope, that the focus on reducing CO₂ will be the same. We need money to make more ships suitable for hydrogen. The government’s decision on how much money is made available has an major impact on decarbonizing inland waterway transport and thus achieving our climate goals.” Especially because the business case for hydrogen is not yet viable in many cases, subsidy schemes are a possibility, or new funds for the construction of new ships. More is needed for the entrepreneurs who are the first to get on board and are leading the way. Taxes for less sustainable ships could also help to bring about change. It is all about frameworks and budgets in the coming years to be able to make even more progress.
RH₂INE has already taken the first step forward by seeking cooperation with Waterstofnet as a party to take over the management of Kenter and Theben, among others. There is already more than enough to be proud of, according to the two driving forces of Zuid-Holland and Nordrhein Westfalen. The first ships on hydrogen are already sailing on the Rhine, including the H2Barge1 from Future Proof Shipping and recently the Letitia. Ships on the Gouwe also sail battery-electric, as do a number of barges in other places.
At the same time, the work is far from finished. Not yet for Kenter and Theben either – they remain intensively involved in the RH₂INE project, at the very least as ambassadors.
To the future Kenter: “RH₂INE is a well-known name, here in the region, but also at the ministry and in Brussels. The RH₂INE project has made things clearer than five years ago. It really was the start of thinking outside the chain, outside the province. You see that the conversation is about sustainability, about the entire chain, about different solutions, but based on the idea that everyone has a role to play. With the new partners and Waterstofnet, we can further expand the whole. We just started, that’s what I like best. First with three partners and ports, and they never left. It’s
Michael Theben (Northrein-Westfalen).
good to show some appreciation for those who stuck their necks out. The first three who took action did make quite a decision. We really took steps from nothing. Are we there yet? No, not yet. We still have a wish list of a number of ports to expand the network of ports where it can be loaded. The list of participating regions is also not yet full.”
Theben agrees with Kenter: “RH₂INE is really a solution. FPS, NPRC and Heuvelman Transport have demonstrated the feasibility of hydrogen vessels and thereby attracted funding to also be able to apply the technology. We now have vessels sailing on the inland waterways. Now in the Netherlands, but from 2025 also from the Netherlands to North Rhine-Westphalia and back. And on further sections along the Rhine in the future. Hydrogen is crossing the border. These are very clearly visible results of RH₂INE. And we are getting bigger. Not in operation, but bigger in uniting the relevant stakeholders and speaking with one voice for an emission-free Rhine corridor. That will hopefully lead to a leap forward in reducing CO₂ emissions from inland vessels sailing through North Rhine-Westphalia, among other places. I think this is one of the best things that could have happened for Europe. In five years, we will have a significant reduction in CO₂-emissions. An additional
benefit is more silence and less NOx. RH₂INE has contributed significantly to the decarbonisation of inland waterway transport. I think we can be a little proud of that.” He continues: “The next step is to continue with even more stakeholders who support us. In five years, we would like to have twenty, maybe thirty ships, maybe even more, sailing on the Rhine on hydrogen. Now we are going to take the next step and I hope that we can grow even further. I am sure that we will succeed.”
Kenter concludes: “We can only do it together. Everything we came up with five years ago still applies. I really believe that this sector is future-proof, but that can and must be improved. We cannot do without inland shipping. That belief should be supported a little more widely. The importance of inland shipping should be emphasized more. We don’t know what will happen next, we don’t know now. We don’t know what it will be in twenty years, but that shouldn’t stop people from starting and continuing, as we did.”
RH2INE • 5
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