"Green" manufacturing of fully automated container terminals| Shandong Research Tour ③
On the coast of the Yellow Sea, on the bank of Jiaozhou Bay. Eighteen blue automated bridge cranes stretched out their arms and grabbed containers one by one from the cargo ship. Automated guided vehicles shuttle in an orderly manner, transporting containers to the yard for loading and unloading... This is what the reporter recently saw at the fully automated container terminal of Qingdao Port in Shandong Province.
The picture shows the automated terminal of Qingdao Port. Photo by Li Xin
But the strange thing is that the dock is busy but there is not a single staff member. "Full automation means that there is no one, and the quayside cranes, rail cranes, and automatic guided vehicles are all driverless." Xiu Fangqiang, member of the Party Committee and Assistant General Manager of Shandong Port Qingdao Port Automated Terminal, told reporters that the total coastline of the automated terminal reaches 2088 meters. The Phase III terminal officially put into use in December last year is my country's first nationally produced and fully autonomous automated terminal. It marks my country has achieved new breakthroughs in the field of R & D and construction of automated terminals.
"Whether a port is big depends on its throughput, and whether a port is strong depends on its container volume." This is a recognized statement in the shipping industry. In 2023, Qingdao Port's container throughput will exceed 30 million TEUs, ranking fifth among coastal ports in the world.
"The Qingdao Port Automated Terminal of Shandong Port has achieved an annual throughput of 320,000 TEUs per 100 meters of coastline, and the highest average efficiency of a single machine has reached 60.2 natural containers per hour. The loading and unloading efficiency has set a new world record for the 10th time." Zhang Feng, deputy manager of the Qingdao Port Automated Terminal Operation Department of Shandong Port, told reporters.
There are not only "smart" manufacturing here by China, but also "green" manufacturing here. Relying on Shandong's advantages of rich hydrogen resources, it pioneered a hydrogen-powered automated rail crane. "For the first time, hydrogen power has been introduced into large-scale machinery in the port. Each standard box operating can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 3.5 kilograms and sulfur dioxide emissions by about 0.11 kilograms." Zhang Feng said.
The picture shows a hydrogen-powered rail crane loading and unloading containers. Photo by Li Xin
In recent years, Shandong Port Group has taken the lead in implementing marine ecological protection projects such as "returning ports to the sea" and "returning ports to the city" in the country, accelerating the construction of garden-style ports and "near-zero carbon port areas", and promoting clean energy such as hydrogen energy and wind power. Energy applications, the proportion of green transportation of bulk goods has reached 80%, green power generation capacity has reached 120 million kWh/year, and the proportion of clean energy has increased from 49.5% to 62%.
The relevant person in charge of Shandong Port Group said that it will continue to vigorously promote the renovation and upgrading of traditional terminals, accelerate the pace of digital and intelligent transformation of terminals, promote green, low-carbon and high-quality development, and make every effort to explore experience and export solutions in the "smart and green" transformation, and strive to create an innovation base for new quality productivity in global ports.
