Nuvera Fuel Cells, a provider of heavy-duty hydrogen fuel cell engines for on- and off-road mobility and other applications, is powering a Hyster top-pick container handler with two E-45 fuel cell engines at the Port of Los Angeles.
The zero-emissions container handler is being operated at Fenix Marine Services, a terminal operator owned by the CMA CGM Group.
A grant awarded to the project manager, the Center for Transportation and the Environment, by the California Air Resources Board in 2018, helped support development of the hydrogen fuel cell-powered container handler.
Refueling is expected to take about 15 minutes, and the vehicle is intended to provide eight to 10 hours of continuous run time. The hydrogen fuel cell engines work in tandem with an onboard lithium-ion battery to either power the equipment directly or charge the onboard battery. To reduce the amount of fuel required, the battery captures regenerated energy from the vehicle.
“Hydrogen-powered vehicles are able to meet the intensive duty cycles and load-lifting requirements associated with port operations,” Nuvera CEO Lucien Robroek explained. “We are honored to have our hydrogen fuel cells used as the power source for Hyster’s container handler in this first-of-its-kind pilot at one of the world’s busiest ports and look forward to seeing it in daily use at the Fenix container terminal.”
The project underway at POLA is part of California Climate Investments, a statewide initiative that puts billions of cap-and-trade dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy, improving public health and the environment, and providing meaningful benefits to disadvantaged communities.