Hydrogen Fuel Cells Power Port Decarbonization in France’s Rochefort-Tonnay-Charentes

France’s Port of Rochefort-Tonnay-Charentes just set a new bar by becoming the first inland river port in the country to bring hydrogen-on-demand into the mix. Back in July 2025, they gave one of their cranes a serious upgrade, outfitting it with dynaCERT’s HydraGEN system. The result? A solid 20% drop in CO₂ emissions and an impressive 45% cut in fine particulate matter.

What’s really cool about this system is that it doesn’t rely on stored hydrogen tanks. Instead, it makes hydrogen as it goes — right on the spot — using electrolysis. That hydrogen is then mixed into the engine’s air intake, helping it burn fuel more cleanly and efficiently. Each retrofit runs about €58,000, and thanks to support from the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region, they’ve already got funding to convert four more cranes.

A Cleaner Port with a Bigger Mission

This isn’t just a one-off experiment. It’s a smart move toward the port’s bigger vision of industrial decarbonization and better air quality for the whole region. And they’re not going it alone. Local distributor IPMD teamed up with the regional authority, Syndicat Mixte Charente-Atlantique, to help scale up the project and make it something other European ports can look to as a practical, non-disruptive path to a greener future.

From One Crane to Continental Change

Unlike many pilot projects that fizzle out or stay small, Rochefort’s hydrogen retrofit is taking off. With proven emissions data to back it up and big plans from dynaCERT to expand across Europe, this crane conversion isn’t just a tech demo — it’s the start of something much bigger. As the demand for clean solutions grows, innovations like HydraGEN technology are helping to build the kind of hydrogen infrastructure that could reshape the way industries tackle emissions — one retrofit at a time.