Ports & Terminals

Toyota wins Port of Long Beach approval for fuel cell powered auto terminal

Toyota has won approval to build its first zero emission auto terminal at the Port of Long Beach powered by hydrogen fuel cells. The current terminal will be renovated and should be operational in about eighteen months, according to a Toyota spokesman.

Russ Koble, Toyota environmental and advanced technology communications manager, told AJOT that the auto maker will construct a 2.3 Mega Watt (MW) power plant at the Port of Long Beach: “This is the first zero emission fuel cell driven power plant that Toyota operates anywhere in the world.”
Toyota operates a marine terminal at the Port where new automobiles are off-loaded from ships, processed and transported off-site via truck or rail. The company is proposing to streamline its operations by demolishing existing office, car washing, fueling, auto body and other facilities and consolidating many of these functions into a single facility. Plans for the facility will add the fuel-cell power plant and a new fueling station that includes pumps dedicated to hydrogen.
Koble said the fuel cell power plant will be so efficient that, “We will sell power back to the grid.”
The 2.3 MW powerplant will provide the following benefits:
1. Electricity- enough to power the terminal - and sell power back to the grid
2. Water- a byproduct of the power plant- will be used to wash cars at the terminal
3. Heat-another by-product- will generate necessary heat for the facility.
4. Hydrogen- fueling the power plant - will also be used to fuel the Toyota Mirai as well as trucks operating at the terminal.

Stas Margaronis
Stas Margaronis

WEST COAST CORRESPONDENT

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