First multimodal hydrogen refuelling station opened in Port of Antwerp
Belgian engineering company CMB.TECH has launched the first multimodal hydrogen refuelling station in Antwerp. It is located near the Port House where the Antwerp Port Authority is headquartered. The facility will be used to power ships, tube trailers, cars, trucks and buses.
The Port of Antwerp is gradually shifting towards hydrogen. To this end, the first multimodal hydrogen refuelling station was opened on 3 June near the Port Authority Building, which is also known as the Port House. Due to the convenient location, the facility is able to supply hydrogen to the industrial customers in the port as well as to the general public. The installation was provided by CMB.TECH, the Belgian engineering company. According to it, the refuelling station is suited for powering various types of vehicles including ships, tube trailers, cars, trucks and buses.
“With the realisation of the hydrogen refuelling station, CMB.TECH proves that it is able to control the entire chain, from the production of green fuel to the use of hydrogen in various applications. The concept will be further refined in the coming months and is ready to be scaled up. We are therefore very pleased that, after two and a half years of development, we are now able to put the station into operation,” Roy Campe, CTO of CMB.TECH, said at the launching ceremony, where a hydrogen truck with the symbolic name, Lenoir was also presented.
Refuelling operations
Electricity and water (H2O) are converted into hydrogen via the electrolyser. Via a compressor, this hydrogen is pumped to a very high pressure into different buffers. These buffers ensure that a car, truck or ship can refuel. In addition to the refuelling station, the site also contains two trailer docks through which the ecologically produced hydrogen can be pumped to trailers which can supply the port applications developed by CMB.TECH with hydrogen. Moreover, there are several ultra-fast charging stations for electric cars where cars can be charged in less than 15 minutes.
CMB.TECH
CMB.TECH is a part of CMB (Compagnie Maritime Belge), a diversified shipping and logistics group based in Antwerp, Belgium. CMB owns and operates 139 seagoing vessels in dry bulk (Bocimar), container transport (Delphis), chemical tankers (Bochem) & crew transfer vessels (Windcat). CMB is also active in cleantech (CMB.TECH) and real estate (Reslea, Maritime Campus Antwerp).
CMB.TECH is strongly committed to hydrogen solutions for industrial and maritime applications. The launch of the Hydroville in 2017, the world’s first hydrogen-powered passenger ship, gave impetus to this commitment. Until now, the Hydroville has been supplied with hydrogen by a tube trailer (mobile hydrogen refuelling station). From now on the Hydroville, in addition to the other hydrogen applications of CMB.TECH, will be able to refuel in Antwerp.