KLAIPĖDA PORT PREPARES TO DEPLOY GREEN HYDROGEN-POWERED EQUIPMENT
Klaipėda State Seaport Authority and Klaipėda stevedoring company “Bega” have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to cooperate on climate change mitigation. The agreement provides for the use of green hydrogen.
“Ports today are actively focusing on energy transformation. In order to be modern, Klaipėda Port is following the example of the most advanced major ports and introducing new fuels. Soon we will have green hydrogen in the port, which will undoubtedly increase its attractiveness. First of all, we intend to use the hydrogen for port purposes, and we are building a waste collection vessel for the Port Authority, which will also run on hydrogen. We have many examples in Europe where buses run on hydrogen in city streets”, says Algis Latakas, Director General of Klaipėda State Seaport Authority. “Today, we have agreed to work together with the port’s stevedoring company to develop and implement green hydrogen solutions. So machinery working inside the port will also use this green fuel”.
The Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Port Authority and the port stevedoring company aims to implement the European green initiatives, to develop a sustainable Klaipėda Port, to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and to introduce zero-emission fuel technologies. It also aims to pool resources and knowledge to create a value chain for green hydrogen use.
“Klaipėda stevedoring company “Bega” has been implementing major changes in individual cargo transport links since 2016. We have converted more than half of our fleet of railway locomotives from diesel locomotives to electric robotic units, and the majority of rail shunting at our terminals is emission-free,” says Aloyzas Kuzmarskis, Chairman of the Board of Directors of “Bega”. “We have analysed and see the potential to build a prototype hydrogen-powered locomotive in a similar way, and the same principles that we have already tested are also applicable to the application of green fuels to other port equipment. Of course, in the short term, these are economically challenging projects, and we have consistently stressed the need for appropriate public incentive policies in order to achieve a major breakthrough in the green agenda.”
The Port Authority plans to start producing green hydrogen from 2026 to fill equipment and vehicles.
