Electrification of AGV fleet at CTA being continued

By now, the transport of containers between container gantry cranes and the fully automated storage blocks is almost completely carried out by battery-powered automated guided vehicles (AGVs). A good 80 % of them are already powered by batteries, and this year they will be joined by eight further battery-powered AGVs. The first of them arrived in March to replace their diesel-electric predecessors. The electric AGVs do not generate any local CO₂, nitrogen oxide or fine particulate matter emissions, and contribute to climate-friendly container handling at CTA. The conversion of the entire fleet by 2023 will result in an annual reduction in emissions of approximately 15,500 tonnes of CO₂ and 118 tonnes of nitrogen oxide.

The roughly 90 AGVs at CTA are loaded with green energy at charging stations. Due to the fast-charging capabilities of the lithium-ion batteries, the charging time is just 90 minutes. There are already 14 of these charging stations in operation and distributed along the AGV area at CTA, and four more are being prepared to become operational.

The conversion of the AGV fleet at CTA is supported by Hamburg’s Ministry for Environment, Climate, Energy and Agriculture using funds from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the “Energiewende in Unternehmen” research project. It is an important component of HHLA’s sustainability strategy, which aims to halve CO₂ emissions by 2030 and achieve climate neutrality across the Group by 2040.