The Nationaal Groeifonds, an initiative of the Dutch Ministries of Economic Affairs & Climate Change and Finance, is investing in Zero Emission Services (ZES) to accelerate the implementation of ZES’ innovative system solution for inland shipping.
As informed, the 50 million investment makes it possible to simultaneously invest in the docking infrastructure, the energy carriers and the ships with an electric drive line. This is an investment in the entire value chain in which ZES operates.
The investment will be used for the development of 75 battery containers for maritime application (ZESpacks), 14 docking stations where the ZESpacks are charged and 45 electrified inland vessels.
This is not only good news for the inland shipping sector and for ZES, but above all, it leads to a better living environment. Now, completely clean sailing will be possible without the emission of CO2, nitrogen and particulates. In addition, it is also silent. The Nationaal Groeifonds supports skippers in investing in an electric propulsion line
…Bart Hoevenaars, CEO of ZES explained.
Zero Emission Services can now invest in the most expensive part, the battery containers, so that these skippers only pay for use. With the support, publicly accessible docking stations can also be realised along a number of crucial shipping routes for inland navigation in the Netherlands
…the CEO continued, adding that “By making it possible to invest in these three things simultaneously, the well-known chicken-and-egg dilemma for green transport is broken.”
We thank the Ministry of I&W for their cooperation in the past year in going through this careful process. Together with them, we are convinced that with this support, the Nationaal Groeifonds will strengthen the competitive position of this important transport sector for the Netherlands
…Bart Hoevenaars concluded.
As informed, ZESpacks cannot be used on ships without an electric drive train and the ships that do have an electric drive train cannot be charged without a docking infrastructure. Cooperation and coordination between the parties involved is crucial.
The country’s first zero-emission inland ship, the Alphenaar of CCT, has been sailing on the basis of exchangeable energy containers since September 2021. The ship sails between Alphen aan den Rijn and Moerdijk in service for Heineken. Heineken and its carrier CCT have both made considerable efforts to be able to operate the first zero-emission inland navigation vessel with the ZES system.
In addition, the use of the ZESpacks also increases the adaptability of solar and wind parks, because they can store generated energy until the moment the energy is actually required. The physical infrastructure for the docking stations is thus a building block for a local ‘clean energy hub’.
Furthermore, ZES said that the concept creates jobs in new construction and the conversion of ships as instead of buying new ships, existing ships can be converted to electrically powered ships. The ZES system offers the Netherlands opportunities to maintain its lead as an important, innovative logistics sector and can serve as an example for similar challenges in other sectors.
