Decarbonization Project Studies Hydrogen at UK’s Immingham Port

fesability of comemrcalizing hydrogen operations at U.K.'s largest port — Immingham on the east coast is the U.K.'s largest port measures by annual cargo tonnage (ABP)

A feasibility study looking at the decarbonization potential of hydrogen at the Port of Immingham in the United Kingdom was launched in September 2021 and is expected to run till March 2022. The project is studying the commercial opportunities for producing, supplying, and using hydrogen at the port, which the Association of British Ports says in the U.K.'s largest port by tonnage, handling around 46 million tons of cargo every year.

Project Mayflower, which will be carried out by a four-company consortium of Toyota Tsusho UK, Uniper, Siemens Energy UK&I, and the Associated British Ports, will create a decarbonization model within the port using hydrogen to formulate a plan for commercialization in the future.

Among the specific areas to be studied are the potential options for hydrogen production, transport and storage, and as a replacement fuel source for diesel and heavy fuel oil used for transport, through conversion to fuel cells. Also, the development of potential hydrogen applications for port cargo handling machinery will be analyzed and evaluated. Starting in 2022, the group plans to begin investigated securing financing with the aim of commercialization for the production of 20 MW of green hydrogen for use at the Port of Immingham by 2025.

Uniper is providing project management and leading on the technical feasibility. The aim is to use renewable energy to produce green hydrogen with Siemens Energy’s edge water electrolysis equipment. ABP will leverage its know-how gained from operating a total of 21 ports in the U.K. including Immingham to support the use of hydrogen at ports. The Toyota Tsusho Group has been investigating a model of local production for consumption of hydrogen at the Port of Los Angeles and plans to use the information used to investigate the development of infrastructure including port facilities and hydrogen fueling as well as GHG emissions reduction volumes while making the most of its expertise in port decarbonization.

The project was selected for the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition, funded by the UK Government’s Department for Transport and delivered in partnership with Innovate UK.