Ports of Auckland in on hydrogen option

AUCKLAND: Ports of Auckland has joined a growing number of hydrogen production experiments as the fuel gains attention of industries seeking to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

Chief executive Tony Gibson announced a pilot project to build a hydrogen production and fuelling facility for use by vehicles at the port, including tugs and container straddlecarriers.

The port has contracted with global energy consultancy Arup for the project, which was foreshadowed at the AsiaPacific Energy Leaders Summit in Wellington last month.

Auckland Council, Auckland Transport and KiwiRail are also partnering in the trial as more firms back hydrogen as a more likely option than electricity to replace fossil fuels for heavy transport tasks like trucking, rail and shipping.

Batteries currently are too heavy for the amount of energy stored and cannot provide sufficient range to make them useful for longhaul and heavy transport.

Hiringa Energy and New Ply mouth trucking firm TIL Logistics will receive Provincial Growth Fund assistance for a similar trucking fuel trial while Japan’s Obayashi Corp and Mokai field owner Tuaropaki last week turned earth on a project near Taupo to use geothermal energy to produce hydrogen.

A far larger proposal, known as Pouakai, is being promoted for the Taranaki region, based on a new zeroemissions technology that would use natural gas to produce electricity, hydrogen and ammoniaurea for fertiliser.

The Auckland hydrogen plant will produce hydrogen using electrolysis to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, with the hydrogen stored for use and oxygen released to the atmosphere.

Hydrogen ‘‘could help Auckland and New Zealand towards energy selfsufficiency and our emission reduction goals,’’ Mr Gibson said.

‘‘Trucks, trains and ferries could also run on hydrogen.’’

Applications for a resource consent are expected to be lodged early next year, with the facility operational by the end of 2019. — BusinessDesk