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Germany Tests Solar and Wind-powered Intelligent Vehicles at Port Terminal
Green Technology Featured Articles
May 29, 2013

Germany Tests Solar and Wind-powered Intelligent Vehicles at Port Terminal

By Cheryl Kaften
TMCnet Contributor

The German federal government has selected Battery Electric Heavy Goods Transports within the Intelligent Container Terminal Operation (BESIC) as one of its six new flagship e-mobility projects.

The goal of the BESIC project is to use peak loads of renewable energy, such as wind and solar power, to charge the batteries of the electric heavy goods vehicles that transport containers at the HHLA Container Terminal Altenwerder on the River Elbe in Hamburg. The port terminal—one of the most modern in the world— is owned by the Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG and Hapag-LLoyd AG shipping lines.


The port owners are collaborating with Düsseldorf-based Gottwald Port Technology GmbH (Gottwald), the Swedish power company Vattenfall, and the Universities of Oldenburg, Göttingen and Clausthal on the e-mobility project—which is being coordinated by the Energy Research Centre of Lower Saxony (EFZN).

The project has been subsidized by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology as part of the technology competition "Information and Communications Technology (ICT) for E-mobility II - Smart Car - Smart Grid - Smart Traffic,” which is being held in conjunction with its international e-mobility conference, “Electric Mobility Going Global” in Berlin this week.

Both the practical feasibility and the commercial viability of such a model are being examined. At HHLA Container Terminal Altenwerder, conventional diesel/electric heavy goods vehicles are being compared with those that are powered by battery technology or an innovative energy storage system. If the new, intelligent charging strategy— which runs on software and takes into account the terminal's operational requirements, as well as green energy peaks in the grid— leads to clear savings on operating costs, it may well pave the way for the use of this technology in many related areas.


Above, a heavy container vehicle at the HHLA Container Terminal Altenwerder on the River Elbe in Germany.

At the announcement, Christian Liebich, who is responsible for the funding area "ICT for E-mobility II" at the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, commented: "I am delighted that the federal government has recognized BESIC as a flagship project. This will focus public interest on…e-mobility— namely, its use in heavy goods vehicles, especially in closed logistics systems. Particularly in the context of the current debate over the cost-effectiveness of private car use, it is important to demonstrate not only the environmental benefits of e-mobility, but also its profitability in commercial use. BESIC shows that e-mobility makes sense both from an ecological point of view as well as an economic one."

Boris Wulff, BESIC project manager at the HHLA Container Terminal Altenwerder and consortium leader, adds: "The selection of BESIC as a flagship e-mobility project demonstrates how important the German federal government considers this pioneering project, with which we are contributing to the realization of Germany's energy transition."

You can also see a short film showing the battery operated AGV and the charging station in action. 

On Monday, the German federal government declared at its international e-mobility conference, “Electric Mobility Going Global” in Berlin that BESIC is one of its two flagship projects within the technology competition "ICT for E-mobility II."




Edited by Alisen Downey


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