Häfen Rheinland-Pfalz GmbH, with locations in Ludwigshafen, Wörth, and Lahnstein, has joined the EcoPort813 – Association for Hydrogen and Sustainable Energy (registered association). As the operator of trimodally connected ports with a focus on the Rhine-Neckar metropolitan region—one of Germany’s leading logistics regions—Häfen Rheinland-Pfalz GmbH is committed to sustainability and to the transformation towards renewable energy sources, particularly hydrogen.
Andreas Stolte, Chairman of the EcoPort813 association based in Wesel, expressed his satisfaction with welcoming its now twenty-fourth member:
“With this addition, the logistics expertise already bundled within the association through participating seaports, inland ports, shipping companies, and logistics-oriented enterprises is further strengthened. The membership also represents a significant supra-regional expansion of our logistics networks for future hydrogen transport from the seaports along the Rhine to key metropolitan regions along the Rhine, Ruhr, and Neckar with substantial hydrogen demand,” Stolte stated.
Alexander Voigt, Managing Director of Häfen Rheinland-Pfalz GmbH, sees the membership in EcoPort813 as an opportunity for the company’s port locations to become part of the planned hydrogen/ammonia transport chain along the Rhine corridor. In the future, this corridor is intended to extend from the Dutch and Belgian seaports via the Rhine to interconnected consumption centers in major economic regions.
“With our trimodal transshipment capacities and available space, we can contribute valuable logistics potential. The Rhine port network in Ludwigshafen is, based on transshipment volumes, one of the major port locations in Germany and serves as a hub for national and international logistics networks in the economically strong southwest of Germany and one of Europe’s most important chemical regions. Even today, our core activities focus on handling energy carriers and chemical products,” said the port CEO.
“In this respect, through this membership and in line with our company’s sustainability strategy we aim to jointly accelerate the urgently needed hydrogen ramp-up as a key element of CO₂-free energy transformation in Germany,” Voigt added.
Founded approximately two and a half years ago, the EcoPort813 association with its renowned, internationally active member companies, research institutions, and municipalities offers diverse opportunities for cooperation and project activities aimed at establishing hydrogen value chains, particularly in the transport and logistics sectors. In order to consolidate hydrogen activities in the Lower Rhine region, the DeltaPort Lower Rhine ports joined forces as early as 2021 with the Port of Rotterdam and numerous companies and institutions to form the working group “EcoPort 813 – H2UB DeltaPort.”
With a strong focus on hydrogen and CO₂-free energy carriers, the association aims to connect its members, initiate joint projects, and foster synergies. The goal is to develop the Lower Rhine and its regional and supra-regional environment into a model hydrogen region. The transition away from fossil fuels represents not only an ecological but also an economic challenge for all economic regions. Experts agree that green hydrogen (H₂) can play a key role in the future energy mix.
About the Association
EcoPort813 – Association for Hydrogen and Sustainable Energy, in short EcoPort813, promotes investments and cooperation among its member companies and institutions in sustainable energy, particularly hydrogen and CO₂-free energy sources. The association was founded in 2022 on the initiative of the DeltaPort Lower Rhine ports and aims to represent the entire hydrogen-based value chain from the import of hydrogen via overseas ports such as Rotterdam or North Sea Port, transport along the Rhine, and transshipment at Lower Rhine and other Rhine ports, to regional and, prospectively, nationwide distribution to industrial end users and mobility networks.
The association sees itself as a driving force, interface, and catalyst on the path toward a post-fossil energy economy, as well as a platform for the exchange of knowledge and experience and as a representative of its members’ interests at both national and international levels.
Contact:
EcoPort813 – Association for Hydrogen and Sustainable Energy e.V.
Moltkestraße 8
D-46483 Wesel
Michael Düchting
Phone: +49 (281) 300 230 3 – 0
Fax: +49 (281) 300 230 3 – 33