Industry, mobility, stationary, energy networks: ports bring together, on different scales, a wide range of use cases where hydrogen makes sense. Analysis…
Many port industrial sectors could thus benefit from the rise of hydrogen to decarbonize: fine and specialty chemicals, glassmaking, metallurgy, cement, etc. The industrial activity of ports and especially of Major Maritime Ports represents an opportunity to initiate large-scale hydrogen hubs. Thus, partner ports could represent 40% of the industrial hydrogen consumption targeted by the sector by 2030 in the “Ambition” scenario and 63% for the “Ambition+” scenario.
Decarbonization of industry
The environmental challenge is significant. During the France Hydrogène study, 18 industrial sites emitting CO2 were identified within the perimeter of a partner port or in the immediate vicinity (less than 15 km) for a total of more than 16 million tonnes of CO2 emitted per year, i.e. on average between 800,000 and 900,000 tCO2/year per site.
Hydrogen has many advantages for integrating into a circular economy and benefiting from strong synergies with other molecules (mainly oxygen and carbon for e-fuels, but also nitrogen for synthetic fertilizers) with a view to accelerating the decarbonization of ports. The synthetic molecules thus obtained (methanol, ammonia, jet fuel, etc.) will supply an existing market and, in the future, other uses of heavy mobility in the maritime or aviation sector, including, however, taking into account safety and environmental impact issues (toxicity, corrosiveness, etc.). In addition to decarbonization, there is the challenge of reindustrialization and relocation of historical activities since today, 600,000 tons of methanol are consumed each year in France while national production is almost zero.
On the industrial side, let us cite for example the Masshylia project in Fos-sur-Mer. It aims to produce renewable hydrogen based on photovoltaic solar energy to initially supply the TotalEnergies la Mède biorefinery in the Fos-sur-Mer area instead of steam reforming. A structuring project for the sector and the territory, thus contributing to the development of the green hydrogen value chain in France (production of 5 tonnes of H2/day eventually). Another refining project, Normand’Hy in Port-Jérôme. Air Liquide has increased its participation in the H2V project in Port-Jérôme to 100% with the objective of deploying 200 MW of PEM electrolysers in 2025. The hydrogen produced will help decarbonise the region’s industrial activities, particularly refining. On the steel industry side, ArcelorMittal in Dunkirk has launched a study for the construction of a large-scale DRI (Direct Reduced Iron) plant, combined with an electric steelworks. Initially, the DRI facility would use natural gas that could be combined with hydrogen.
The other major benefit of hydrogen combined with dockside electrification is to enable pollution control, particularly atmospheric pollution, of all port sites, large and small. Cruise ship engines that must be permanently supplied during their stops at the port (air conditioning, refrigeration, etc.) emit significant quantities of fine particles.
Mobility and stationary applications
Ports, essential logistics areas open to major commercial flows, concentrate these uses, particularly within clearly defined spaces such as terminals (cereals and agrifood, liquid bulk,
solid bulk, containers, various handling operations, etc.) or combined transport platforms (Multimodal Transport Units capable of using both road and rail, etc.). Within marinas, the use of hydrogen mobility is also increasing, at the quayside with decarbonized electrical installations, or on ships with numerous fuel cell projects or the installation of synthetic fuel.
Within each port, it is appropriate to distinguish between road, river, maritime and rail activities, but also to have a second dividing line between intra-port mobility, dedicated to the specific uses of the port and so-called extra-port mobility responding to logistics flows connecting the port to its more or less distant hinterland. Although hydrogen can provide a global response to all of these ranges of uses, the needs and challenges are not the same, as are the associated deployment logics.
Maritime activity
Maritime and/or river activity is of course essential and central to the activity of a port. All categories of ships and boats use French port facilities every day: cargo ships for the transport of goods and heavy goods, container ships linked to international trade, ferries providing services on a European scale, fishing fleets or even river barges transiting on inland waterways. The activities of these commercial ships are supplemented by those of service vessels, in particular to serve offshore energy platforms, for example for offshore wind farms to come to France.
As for the largest ship flows (ferries, cruise ships, bulk carriers, feeders and container ships), they will require an appropriate response with the first scale demonstrators planned by the end of the decade. It is possible that a plural energy mix, combining all fuels and solutions, will develop in the coming years to quickly move away from heavy fuel oil or GNR engines while meeting their colossal needs. For example, initial studies estimate that a single ferry running 100% on e-methanol will require 9,500 tH2/an.
Decarbonizing these forms of mobility using hydrogen is therefore a crucial element for a port ecosystem benefiting from real momentum with the first large-scale deployments expected from 2022 and the existence of a French sector of excellence.
Intra-port mobility and stationary uses
The diversity of logistics and industrial activities present in port areas as well as their intensive nature require the various stakeholders to deploy suitable equipment capable of ensuring the transport and handling of different loads, packages and products. Forklifts, container carriers, straddle carriers, stackers, loaders, tractors, excavators and also forklifts are therefore essential to the activity of any port. A fleet of more than 300 vehicles of this type has been identified at this stage with partner ports. At present, the hydrogen offer is still emerging but present for certain use cases. Similarly, fixed equipment essential to logistics activities such as gantries (loading-unloading, storage, etc.), pontoons, cranes or conveyor belts, are generally powered today by high-power diesel generators (several MW).
Many utility vehicles also circulate within the port perimeter to carry out various service missions; each port authority, for example, has its own fleet of vehicles to carry out these activities (150 to 200 light vehicles/light commercial vehicles identified to date for the various ports). Fleets linked to commercial activities are much larger but difficult to estimate to date.
At sea too, service vessels represent a wide range of uses and activities to maintain installations (dredgers, barges, etc.) or to support the maneuvers of other vessels (tugs, pilots, etc.). Other river-sea vessels provide connections between different sites in the same port (mainly barges and pushers). Maritime and river mobility also requires energy supplies once at the quayside, in particular to power auxiliary equipment linked to the specificities of their activities (hotels, life on board, etc.). These “quayside recharging” needs are currently met by diesel generators, but there is a strong demand to electrify these uses. Fuel cell systems can then, depending on the territorial configurations and connection conditions, provide a real answer.
Rail freight is also an essential link in port logistics, capable of moving very large volumes, particularly of liquid or solid bulk, in complete safety. Nearly 30 locomotives and 30 service vessels were thus identified in the France Hydrogène study.
As we have detailed in this report, hydrogen can be integrated in multiple ways into associated port and maritime activities: industry, decarbonization, mobility at the quay and ship, which can be chosen à la carte in the different port typologies. A true circular economy combining hydrogen, renewable electricity, LNG and synthetic fuel can operate from ports, places of exchange since time immemorial that are once again becoming the key to the deployment of a new circular economy. ′
