For instance, the HTS Group’s container ship Letitia will soon commute between Rotterdam and the MDT terminal in the north of Duisburg. These two locations will be the starting points for the Green Corridor. More ports and more terminals will be added successively. According to Garbar, the demand for clean or zero- emission transport is there. Shippers want to switch to low- emission transport partly out of conviction, partly driven by the CO₂ tax. Initially, the hydrogen in the tankcontainers will not be very green, because “there is simply no green hydrogen available on the market”, Garbar claims. The on-site and port-owned electrolyser (hydrogen plant) in Duisburg is yet to be installed. Hydrogen production and hydrogen logistics are expensive, so the financial hurdles are high. Garbar is hoping for new subsidies announced for hydrogen in the transport sector in Germany in 2025. That could bring down the price for shippers.
Basel H2 hub Florian Röthlingshöfer, director of the Port of Switzerland
in Basel, hopes that zero-emission ships will soon call at the southernmost port along the Rhine. There are no such ships yet. However, Röthlingshöfer has been following developments
within RH2INE for some time and recently decided to join the organisation as an official partner. Close business ties to duisport and to Rhenus Logistics, with a terminal in Basel, have acquainted the Port of Switzerland with the Green Corridor initiatives.
constructed - and then enable import of green hydrogen from overseas.
According to Röthlingshöfer, the initiatives complement and
could be mutually beneficial. “Within RH2INE, the focus is on inland navigation. As a port, we expect to learn a lot from that platform. But we also want to make our contribution. A high priority for us at this stage is to build a good tankcontainer management system.” Röthlingshöfer is a clear advocate of what he calls a “logo-free system”. In other words, the shipping companies are not the owners and exclusive users of the fuel containers, as is currently the case with most freight containers. It would lead to expensive redundancies.
Several scenarios are currently being discussed within RH2INE. In their own port, the port management will organise an internal
distribution system with the use of their own tugs and pushers to bring tankcontainers from one port area to another. Production, storage and loading will be divided between different port areas along the Rhine.
Consistency requested Röthlingshöfer expresses his admiration for the few ship owners who have taken the lead to build and sail hydrogen- powered ships: “They do this even though the business case is anything but safe.” He hopes more players will follow the path taken, a path “that leads to decarbonisation not only of inland navigation, but also of the ports themselves.” The port director aims for a clear and practical approach within the workgroups. He further emphasises that plans, funding for developments and also regulations on the part of governments and organisations must be consistent. “When we know what the rules of the game are and that they will not change, then we, like other partners,
are prepared to take risks.” In his opinion, RH2INE could assert itself even more strongly against the EU on this point.
Florian Röthlingshöfer, managing director of Port of Switzerland. Photo Port of Switzerland
Thus, Röthlingshöfer and his team are preparing the port for the arrival of hydrogen barges. “We believe that hydrogen is an important piece of the puzzle to realise the energy transition for inland navigation”, he said. For Basel, however, inland navigation is one part of a larger green hydrogen strategy. Basel wants to become the green-hydrogen hub for the region, and in fact for the whole country, it has been officially announced.
To this end, the H2-Hub Schweiz platform was set up, in which key players coordinate their activities in order to jointly plan, secure and then implement projects - similar to the vision behind
RH2INE. In and around Basel, green hydrogen will be produced with hydropower plants in the Rhine. That hydrogen will be provided for inland navigation, but also for local industry and road transport. H2-Hub Schweiz, in turn, is a member of the tri-
national hydrogen initiative ‘3H2’ between France, Germany and Switzerland. This network in the ‘three-country border region’
concentrates on the construction of H2-pipeline connections, which will connect to the German hydrogen network - yet to be
RPIS The Port of Switzerland proposes to use the digital platform RPIS, the Multi-Port Information System, which will be rolled out in 2025, also for tankcontainer logistics. RPIS is an open IT system. Anyone can join and anyone can connect their own terminal system or other software systems to it.
RPIS was set up together with duisport and several ports along the Upper Rhine as a digital platform for barges and port terminals to manage and reserve slots at terminals, monitor arrival times and handle customs processes digitally - at least for Switzerland. “RPIS would be ideal to have an overview of tankcontainers in the port. Using a so-called ‘tanktainer module’, for example, you could register to a port the stock of tanktainers, where they are and at which terminal they should be made ready for the next barge”, says Röthlingshöfer.
Within RH2INE, people are clearly satisfied with the Swiss participation. The Swiss are considered to be pragmatic and less
bureaucratic. “True”, Alexander Garbar of duisport says with a smile. “They look with a certain distance at the guidelines prescribed by the European Union. Having them at the table, will give the discussions definitely a new dynamic.”
RH2INE • 11
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