Hyster is developing a fuel cell reachstacker

Hyster Europe is developing a zero-emission reachstacker featuring a hydrogen fuel cell for the Port of Valencia, as part of the European Horizon 2020 program and H2Ports project.

The port will be the first in Europe to incorporate hydrogen energy in its operations.

"An on-board Hydrogen fuel cell will charge the battery on the forthcoming fully electric Hyster reachstacker," says Jan Willem van den Brand, director - big truck product strategy and solutions at Hyster Europe. "The technology will help evolve this industry into a low-carbon and zero-emission sector."

The demonstration site for the H2Ports project will be the MSC Terminal Valencia (MSCTV) in Spain, that can receive today's biggest container ships and has 260,000 sqm of container stacking space.

The reachstacker is expected to enter operation in 2021, where it will undergo thorough testing handling laden shipping containers alongside several existing reachstackers.

"As the first of its kind, we expect the new Hyster reachstacker will be able to support continuous operations while providing zero emissions and achieving comparable full shift performance to a conventional IC reachstacker," says van den Brand.

The truck architecture incorporates electricity as the main energy source at high voltage to power fully electric motors.

Noise levels will be low and users can expect a reduction in energy costs. The company also expects reduced vehicle maintenance costs thanks to the elimination of the engine, transmission and other mechanical-driven components.