July 26, 2021

Decarbonizing port operations has become an absolute priority on the road towards an overall ecological transition. Container handling equipment represents a critical issue if we consider that Rubber-Tired-Gantry (RTG) cranes are a major producer of carbon emissions: they are currently causing a significant portion of the CO2 emissions in container terminals while being one of the main energy consumer elements.

PACECO Group (PACECO) and Mitsui E&S Machinery (MES-M) have always advocated for emission reduction and released a hybrid RTG already in 2009, with a smaller diesel engine and adding lithium-ion batteries for additional power. Over 270 PACECO-Mitsui Hybrid Transtainer® RTGs are in use today at Ports around the world. Recently, PACECO and MES-M have gone a step further in their ongoing commitment to sustainability and launched the NZE Transtainer RTG, a near zero emission crane with a small diesel engine that will be easily able to be replaced by a zero-emission power source in a near future.

Today, MES-M (President & CEO: Ichiro Tanaka) is closer than ever to reach the goal of decarbonization of the port industry since they have been awarded a grant from NEDO (New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization). The purpose of this grant is for the development of a hydrogen fuel cell Rubber-Tired-Gantry (RTG) crane under the theme of “Collaborative Industry-Academia-Government R&D Project for Solving Common Challenges Toward Dramatically Expanded Use of Fuel Cells and Related Equipment, theme Ⅲ,Technology Development for Diversifying Fuel Cell Use.” NEDO is one of the largest Japanese public research and development management organizations with two missions: address energy and global environmental problems and enhancing industrial technology.

“The grant from NEDO is an important part of our advancement of hydrogen fuel cell technology in port cranes” said Ichiro Tanaka, president of MES-M. “With NEDO and other collaborating partners, we can rapidly develop this exciting technology to meet our customer’s ambitious emission reduction goals.” Under the NEDO grant, MES-M plans to develop a next-generation zero-emission (ZE Transtainer®) RTG, powered by a hydrogen fuel cell power module. Preparation is ongoing and initial demonstration of the hydrogen fuel cell driven RTG complete by March 2022 with a goal of achieving performance equivalent to a conventional diesel engine driven RTG, followed by testing at a to-be-determined terminal.