Page 26 - Port of Hamburg Magazine - 02.18

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26 | Port of Hamburg Magazine | June 2018
An all but emission- free container terminal
Electric propulsion is the mobility system of the future. So far, Germany has not exactly shone as a pioneer in this area. Its automotive industry for a long time overlooked the trend. Now it is striving to catch up. Yet here in “drivers’ paradise” the proportion of electric vehicles remains absolutely tiny. Not the least reason is shortage of infrastructure, or dearth of charging stations. It’s all the more gratifying that a Hamburg-based port enterprise is among the leaders on electro-mobility. Hafen Hamburg und Logistik (HHLA) is well on the way towards making an existing facility the world’s first zero-emission terminal. The aim is complete electrification of the site, with all operations running entirely on eco-power.
Ever since opening in 2002, HHLA’s Container Ter- minal Altenwerder (CTA) has been among the world’s most state-of-the-art facilities. With its au- tomated, software-based processes, and even then a high degree of electrification and highly produc- tive use of space, from the start CTA was seen as a milestone in terminal development. Reason to sit back? No Way! With its innovations, HHLA is con- stantly taking its CTA further into the future. In short, the facility is now a testbed and research lab doing pioneering work for tomorrow and beyond. From the start, its biggest achievement was de- ployment of driverless AGVs - Automated Guided Vehicles - to transport containers as if by magic from the waterside to block storage. The first die- sel-powered vehicles were followed by low-emis- sion diesel-electric AGVs. First battery-powered heavy-load vehicles with lead batteries entered ser- vice in 2011. In autumn 2016, the prototype of an AGV using modern lithium-ion technology then transported containers across CTA for the first time. Tests of operation using an automated charg- ing station proved successful.
In April 2018, HHLA announced the acquisition of 25 of these AGVs powered by ion-lithium batteries. These should enter service at CTA before the end
of the year. By the end of 2022, the fleet of almost 100 AGVs here should have been completely con- verted to using lithium-ion batteries. In addition, twelve charging stations will have been installed to reinforce the present six.
The new e-vehicles score, not just for sustainabili- ty, but are attractively economical. With the ratio of energy used to actual propulsion output of diesel AGVs, they are three times more efficient than their first-generation diesel-powered predecessors. Ad- ditional advantages of lithium-ion batteries are a charging time of around one and a half hours, and longer working life. In addition, they weigh just four tons, compared to twelve for lead batteries. Unlike those, they even require no maintenance. That cuts costs and reduces workshop downtime. “Commer- cial success and sustainable operations are not mu- tually exclusive,” said HHLA’s CEO Angela Titzrath during a presentation of these innovative transport vehicles.
“In the past, AGVs were CTA’s heaviest fuel con- sumers,” explains Jan Hendrik Pietsch, HHLA’s Sustainability and Energy Management Officer. “We had been consuming five million litres of die- sel here every year, so our sustainability strivings at CTA are focussed on the AGV.” With some suc-
HHLA’S CONTAINER TERMINAL ALTENWERDER IS NOT SIMPLY ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST STATE-OF-THE-ART CONTAINER HANDLING FACILITIES. AS TESTBED AND RESEARCH LABORATORY, IT IS THE SITE FOR PIONEERING WORK FOR THE FUTURE
© HHLA/Nele Martensen