The Netherlands – The Port of Rotterdam, together with the Province of Zuid Holland and more than 40 partners, has launched an ambitious project to facilitate the sailing of 50 emission-free vessels by 2030, targeting a CO2 reduction of 100,000 tons per year.
The project, called Condor H2, aims to achieve this through the use of fuel cells, a battery pack, and hydrogen storage on a pay-per-use basis. The hydrogen will be delivered in ‘tanktainers’ which can be easily loaded on board vessels and quickly swapped when empty, allowing maximum flexibility for longer journeys.
Condor H2 is part of the RH2INE network, a cooperation between ports, regional governments, and market parties along the Rhine corridor, ranging from Belgium and the Netherlands up to Switzerland. The project brings together six ports and more than 40 partners, spanning the entire value chain from hydrogen suppliers and distributors to technology providers and shipowners. The goal is to have the first vessels with the Condor H2 system sailing on the route in 2025.
Partners
The project is driven by a Steering Group of the Province of Zuid Holland, Port of Rotterdam, WaterstofNet, and Rabobank. It is also supported by a range of other partners from industry and shipping, including Air Products, Ballard, Blue H Engineering, bp, Concordia Damen, De Vlaamse Waterweg, DFDS, EICB, ENGIE, Eoly Energy, FinCo Fuel, Future Proof Shipping, H2Storage, HTS, INEOS, Linde, Marin, Maritime Academy Harlingen, Naval Inland Navigation, Nedstack, Municipality of Nijmegen, North Sea Port, NPRC, NPROXX, Port of Duisburg, Port of Amsterdam, Port of Antwerp-Bruges, the Province of Noord Holland, Rotterdam Shortsea Terminal, Samskip, Schenk Tanktransport, Shell, STC, Theo Pouw, UMOE, VT Group, VITRITE Middelburg, and Zepp Solutions.
Climate-neutral by 2050
Condor H2 provides an alternative to conventional fossil fuel shipping that is responsible for a significant portion of global greenhouse gas emissions. This is a crucial step towards achieving the goal of the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The project also supports the European Green Deal, which aims to make Europe climate-neutral by 2050.
