Our CAMPFIRE information event at the Rhine ports in Karlsruhe was a successful event with lively participation by stakeholders from business, administration, politics and science. Ammonia as the green energy supply of the future for the Rhine ports and as a central energy vector for the accelerated market ramp-up of green hydrogen — this was the focus of the information event. Moderated by Ulrich Walter, around 45 participants discussed contributions from Port of Rotterdam, H2 PEG, EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG, Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Transport NRW, INNIO Group, Liebherr Group, Center for Fuel Cell Technology (ZBT), DST — Development Centre for Ship Technology and Transport Systems, Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology (INP Greifswald) e. V. and IAVF Antriebstechnik. V. and IAVF Antriebstechnik GmbH to create a resilient, nationwide hydrogen supply based on an ammonia inland waterway supply route from Rotterdam to the regions of the Middle and High Rhine. The rapid development of ammonia logistics along the Rhine offers a complementary solution for the implementation of a hydrogen economy in Germany and Europe, which, in addition to the hydrogen backbone, above all makes economic solutions possible for the numerous consumers in the hinterland. In addition to the future hydrogen backbone, ammonia offers the urgently needed resilient solutions to ensure a high level of supply security.
A highlight was the tour of the ammonia tanker “Odin” of SPETRANS Schiffahrts- und Speditions- GmbH, Uettersen with Badischer Kartoffelsuppe at Steiger 2. The Odin has been transporting ammonia on the Rhine for several decades to supply a power plant and is to be converted to emission-free operation in 2027 as part of the CAMPFIRE product line CF08 with an ammonia cracker engine hybrid system. Many thanks to the owner Kerstin Malchow for making it possible for the stakeholders of our event to visit the ship.
