Port of Immingham claims UK first with trial of hydrogen-powered tractor unit

The prototype Terberg tug unit - which doesn't produce any exhaust emissions - is being used to move containers arriving on vessels at Immingham, which is the UK’s largest port by tonnage.

Funded as part of a government project, it is a small step towards the enormous goal of decarbonizing shipping, an industry that accounts for roughly three per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Maritime Minister Baroness Vere said the initiative showed the UK was "serious about cleaning up the sector".

"Decarbonising the maritime sector goes beyond cutting emissions at sea, and this trial demonstrates that hydrogen will play a significant part in UK's port operations and shed their dependence on fossil fuels," she said.

The Humber is the most carbon intensive industrial cluster in the country.

ABP said hydrogen offered “significant benefits over electrification including higher lifting capacities and shorter charging times meaning less disruption to port operations”.

However the current challenge is the high commercial risk of investment - the cost of the machinery and the uncertainty over supply and demand of the fuel.

Simon Bird, Regional Director of the Humber ports, described the initiative as “quite modest” but “nevertheless (a) really exciting” part of wider decarbonisation efforts.

The Humber ports are now producing around 25 per cent of their energy by having solar panels on their warehouses and they also operate electric cranes, where three years ago they were powered by diesel, Mr Bird said.

It comes days before the launch of a public consultation into the first large scale, green hydrogen production facility being sited at the port in a partnership by Air Products and ABP.

Starting on Monday 9 January it runs until Monday 20 February.

Local residents and key stakeholders will be able to have their say on the proposals, and there will be in-person sessions taking place in Immingham.

A new jetty will be built as part of the facility to receive ammonia imports which will be stored and processed to produce green hydrogen, to fuel vehicles like buses and HGVs.

Mr Bird said: “As the biggest port in the UK we have hundreds of thousands of trucks coming through this port on an annual basis.

"That’s the offtake for the hydrogen facility that Air Products are going to build here in Immingham, that’s one of their market opportunities to see the conversion of those diesel trucks to hydrogen.

"That’s really exciting.”

A briefing note by ABP and Air Products claims it will create 1,400 new direct jobs in the North East Lincolnshire area, including around 650 in building the facility and a further 750 ongoing jobs in its operation and maintenance. They say at least another 1,600 jobs would be created in the supply chain.

The document says “when used for the purposes intended, the manufactured hydrogen would eliminate approximately 580,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions each year, the equivalent of taking 20,000 diesel HGVs off our roads”.