Page 28 - Port of Hamburg | Port of Hamburg Magazine 1.2023

PAGE 28
GATEWAY HAMBURG PORT OF HAMBURG MAGAZINE 1/23
Full speed ahead for green hydrogen
The climate-friendly energy hub in the Port of Hamburg is gathering speed. Work on the ammonia import terminal has started and agreements have been reached with ever more supplier countries.
BY KERSTIN KLOSS
With its 72 tanks the Blumensand tank farm in the Port of Hamburg is already an eye-catcher today, but come 2026 at the latest, the whole of Germany will be focussing on the Oiltanking Deutschland facility. Why? It will be here that the first German import ter- minal for green ammonia as an energy carrier for transporting hydrogen will go on-stream. Hamburg’s First Mayor Peter Tschentscher is striving to create a ‘leading hydrogen hub in Europe’: “We want to make our contribution to securing a reliable energy supply for Germany and pushing ahead with decarbonising industry and commerce.”
The wheels for this were set in motion with the signa- ture in February last year of a memorandum of under- standing by representatives of Hamburg Ministry for Economics and Innovation – BWI, Hamburg Port Au- thority – HPA and the world’s biggest hydrogen pro- ducer, Air Products. This will ensure Germany’s strate-
gic access to the environment-friendly source of energy via the Port of Hamburg. In mid-November, Air Products and Mabanaft announced the construction of a comprehensive hydrogen value-added chain, in- cluding an import terminal for green ammonia at Blu- mensand in the port.
Thanks to its 12.7-metre draft, the terminal is accessi- ble to seagoing, bunker and inland waterway vessels. Shore-based rail tankcars and road tankers can be loaded or unloaded, and a pipeline is also available. Ac- cording to Luisa Köneke, the spokeswoman for Maba- naft, the parent company of Oiltanking Deutschland, they and Air Products are “each investing a significant three-digit million sum for the ammonia import termi- nal, especially for its construction.”
Two conventional oil tanks will be dismantled and replaced by an ammonia tank. Liquified ammonia
© HHLA/Rätzke
© Marek Vogel Fotografie 2020