Europe’s largest inland port, Duisburg in Germany, is making a bid to be a decentralized and climate-friendly blueprint for the rest of the shipping industry.

Port bosses have signed a deal with Rolls-Royce Power Systems for a climate-neutral energy supply at a giant container terminal that’s currently being built on what was previously a coal island.

Rolls-Royce is supplying its mtu fuel cell solutions for electrical peak load coverage plus a hydrogen-fuelled CHP plant, with waste heat to be used for process heat or for buildings in and around the port.

Rolls-Royce Power Systems chief executive Andreas Schell said: “Hydrogen technology is no longer a dream of the future – it will prove itself in everyday use in Duisburg.

“The parallel use of fuel cell solutions and hydrogen engines shows that we have taken the right path with our technology-open approach to the development of new solutions for the energy supply of the future.”

There are also plans to integrate photovoltaic systems and battery storage into the local supply network.

The project is being funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy for a period of four years as part of its Hydrogen Technology Offensive.

Hitachi Energy has signed a deal to accelerate a drive to make the Faroe Islands powered by 100 per cent renewables by the end of this decade.

The North Atlantic volcanic archipelago has a population of around 50,000 and is not interconnected to neighbouring countries.

With no choice but to be energy independent, it has already established a strong reliance on windpower: in 2018 almost half the islands’ energy came from mainly wind renewables.

Now the islands’ power company SEV has signed a deal with Hitachi Energy for its 6 MW/7.5 MWh e-mesh PowerStore battery energy storage solution to integrate the 6.3 MW Porkeri windfarm into the local grid of the southernmost island, Suðuroy.

Porkeri is the first wind farm on Suðuroy and part of a project expected to produce 20 GWh of energy, which will ultimately reduce thermal production by 4,400 tonnes per year.

As well as integrating the wind farm, the storage system will also cut diesel consumption and CO2 emissions, while improving power quality.

The system can be used for black start and islanding operations when the existing thermal diesel power plant is in standby mode and the wind farm is feeding energy to the island. 

Massimo Danieli, managing director of Grid Automation at Hitachi Energy, said that “by harnessing its abundant energy sources including wind, hydropower and solar, SEV’s network strategy not only achieves present goals but also protects the area’s vital resources for future generations”.

Based on the results of the Porkeri storage project, SEV will investigate future investments on a larger scale to support the integration of more wind energy in order to reach its 2030 target of 100 per cent renewable energy powering the islands.

SEV chief executive Hakun Djurhuus explained that the company’s “foundation remains a democratic people’s organization, owned by all the Faroese municipalities, and thereby owned by the people”.

“SEV’s profit from the sale of electricity is mostly spent on future extensions and work on the power supply units and the power supply system. In this way, everybody makes use of SEV’s profit, and SEV can keep on developing and supplying for the growing demand of electricity.”

The Federal Government of Nigeria has inaugurated a Deep Decarbonisation Project (DDP) that would effectively address environmental challenges in the country.

Minister of State for Environment, Chief Sharon Ikeazor, who inaugurated the project in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital said that the project was recognised as imperative in the fight against climate change.

Ikeazor explained that the DDP was also a national research and capacity building project for the implementation of a Deep Decarbonisation Pathway Programme (DDPP) in the country.

According to her, DDP is a collaboration project between the ministry and the Agency Française de Development (AFD) with International Relation and Sustainable Development Institute (IDDRI) as the Programme Coordinator.

“The purpose of the inauguration is to present the DDP project to the larger community of stakeholders to begin a focused conversation on the scenarios and modelling options.

“The modelling options that can help Nigeria achieve her stated long term climate objectives including the goal of net-zero emission by 2060.

“The Nigeria DDP is therefore, a very important component in our effort to navigate Nigeria and the global world over the harsh and unpleasant risks of climate change.

“Indeed, as many here will attest, we are already being confronted with the dangerous consequences of extreme weather in recent times with huge financial stress,” she said.

According to her, the DDP is designed to generate context-specific scenarios and long-term modelling that will offer substantial evidence to support the government’s long term emission reduction strategies and our climate action.

“The Federal Government has made several climate change interventions intended to mitigate climate change and increase resilience to avert the excruciating consequences of climate change.

“Some of the interventions we have made to reverse the ugly trend of climate change in Nigeria include, signing into law the Climate Change Bill passed by the National Assembly.

“The Law provides an overarching legal framework to articulate a long-term climate plan for Nigeria to achieve a net-zero carbon emission target.

“Also the recent submission of its revised and robust Nationally Determined Contributions that articulate climate actions until 2030, among others,’’ she said.

Ikeazor, however, encouraged all the stakeholders in the space of climate change to support the DDP project, to enable us address environmental challenges effectively.