The challenges were not only on the technical side of the propulsion system. Obtaining licences from the relevant authorities, such as the CCNR, ADN, CESNI or Lloyds for classification, was also complicated. The process was unfamiliar territory for all candidates - Rhenus, suppliers and the relevant authorities. Pioneers like Rhenus also paved the way here. Their own, first hydrogen-fuel- cell-powered ships operate under special permits. New rules and guidelines have now been formulated after many corrections and amendments. Graf-Potthoff expects them to be implemented in the various commissions in the foreseeable future. “As a large logistics company, we also wanted to get involved in this area so that the new propulsion system can prove itself and small and medium-sized companies can join in.”
Naval engineer Graf-Potthoff keeps options open for future ships. “We don’t want to commit ourselves to using gaseous hydrogen only. As a gas, hydrogen takes up a lot of space on the ship. Derivatives like methanol or ammonia, which are liquid and have a higher energy density, could be alternatives. We chose hydrogen at the time because it was the only technology on the market that promised completely emission-free propulsion and had some degree of market maturity. Now there are other developments going on. For
us, it was important that the new series of ships have an electrified propulsion system with the ability to flexibly deploy different energy sources. In this way, we are optimally prepared for future developments.”
The technology on board Rhenus’ ships.
Photo Rhenus Group
Bunkering: swappable containers for hydrogen Initially, the idea within RH2INE prevailed to refuel the newly built hydrogen ships conventionally, with a hose from a shore station to the ship. A different, more practical plan has now been devised.
“A ship has to refuel at least two tonnes of hydrogen during a bunkering operation. With a hose, this would take twelve or more hours, and during that time safety regulations prohibit to load or unload while tanking. Such a long refuelling time is not compatible with the schedule of container shipping”, Robert Graf-Potthoff of Rhenus says. For ship operators it had been clear from the beginning that hydrogen had to be delivered to the ship in exchangeable containers. The transshipment process to exchange empty tanks for full ones in port takes about thirty minutes without having to interrupt other operations.
RH2INE abandoned the refuelling station idea at an early stage. The hydrogen ships now operating in Europe all use swappable containers that bundle multiple tanks for hydrogen. This is considered a commonly agreed system- technical standard and has now been submitted for approval to CESNI as the so-called Multiple-Element Gas
Container (MEGC). In practice a variety of construction types are in use. It is still unclear whether further standardisation will take place here as well.
Shipping company FPS’s two retrofit barges H2 Barge 1 and H2 Barge 2, which entered service in 2023 and 2024 respectively, have a 40-foot tank container that bundles the H2 tanks (under a pressure of 300 bar) together with the connection module. These containers were developed in close cooperation with Air Liquide. The consortium led by the port of Rotterdam under the name CONDOR H2 chose a 20-foot container with bundled H2 tanks (300 bar). One large metal connector has to be manually attached to join the tanks to the ship’s installation. This format is used on the Antonie by NPRC / Harm Lenten. The third variant was developed in Germany at hydrogen engineering company Argo-Anleg. Here, each H2 tank (500 bar) in the bundle is manually connected by its own, smaller and thus lighter connector to the ship’s system. This so-called H2-tanktainer is deployed on HTS Group’s Letitia and on Rhenus’ tying barges Mannheim I+II.
Design of the placement of H2-tanktainers on Rhenus PartnerShip’s tying barges Mannheim I+II.
Purchasing a hydrogen tank container is expensive, between 400,000 and 500,000 euro each. So the question that players on the green Rhine corridor are now dealing with is who will own and operate the necessary tank containers. “Without subsidies, it will be difficult to convince companies to invest”, says Alexis Licha of the energy company Engie. RH2INE partners are now discussing whether to set up a tanker pool that should preferably be independent from a shipping company, so that any barge owner, be it a small private owner or a large shipping company, can access the pool. Such an operator must ensure that sufficient capacity is available at the ports where hydrogen ships want to exchange their empty tanktainers for full ones.
RH2INE • 9
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