Deliverable D3.1 presents the transport concepts developed within Work Package 3 of the AUTOFLEX project. The report covers three interconnected infrastructure and logistics innovations – the Stow&Charge Hub (SCH), the Temporary Port Terminal (TPT), and the Mobile Distribution Centre (MDC) – designed to enable a modal shift from road freight to zero-emission inland waterway transport.
Background and Motivation
Three structural barriers stand in the way of shifting freight from road to inland waterways in Europe:
- Cargo centralisation and the marginalisation of small ports – The long-term pursuit of economies of scale has concentrated freight at a handful of mega ports, leaving small-to-medium-sized ports (SMPs) financially unable to invest in the infrastructure needed to stay competitive. As SMPs disappear, road transport fills the gap.
- Ports as energy hubs – The electrification of transport can only deliver a positive climate impact if terminals also produce and distribute renewable energy. SMPs are currently trailing far behind larger ports in making this transition.
- Underutilisation of transport capacity – European freight vehicles operate at an estimated average system-wide utilisation of just 59 percent. Less-than-vessel and less-than-container loads represent a major source of transport waste that current waterborne services are poorly equipped to handle.
The SCH, TPT, and MDC concepts have each been designed specifically to address one of these barriers.
Use Cases
Use Case 1: The Congested Roads in the Netherlands – The Randstad region accounts for over 40 percent of the Dutch population and roughly half of national income. The A13 corridor between The Hague and Rotterdam is the busiest motorway in the country, with approximately 140,000 vehicles per day. Running in parallel to these congested highways is a dense network of minor inland waterways that currently carry almost no commercial cargo. AUTOFLEX targets these underutilised CEMT class II waterways as the primary opportunity for modal shift.
Use Case 2: The Ghent Zero-Emission Terminal – The regions surrounding Rotterdam, Antwerp, and Ghent are critical nodes in European freight logistics and are well served by major inland waterways. Use Case 2 focuses on the development and demonstration of the Stow&Charge concept as a multifunctional hub supplying renewable energy to electric vessels and vehicles while enabling efficient multimodal cargo transhipment.
Identifying Modal Shift Opportunity Areas
Before the three concepts could be designed, the work identified where they would have the greatest real-world impact. The methodology progressed through six steps:
- (A) High External Cost Areas (HECAs) – Zones of high population density and regional GDP where road congestion imposes the greatest costs in terms of health and productivity. Five HECAs were identified: Greater Amsterdam, Greater Utrecht, Greater Rotterdam, Greater Den Haag/Delft, and Greater Eindhoven.
- (B) Traffic-Intense Corridors (TICs) – The most congested road corridors running through the HECAs, including the routes connecting Amsterdam, Utrecht, Rotterdam, and Eindhoven.
- (C) Waterborne Alternative Corridors (WACs) – Inland waterways that run in parallel to the traffic-intense corridors and could absorb diverted freight.
- (D) Waterborne Service Gaps (WSGs) – Sections of these waterways that currently have no commercial cargo services.
- (E) Modal Shift Candidates (MSCs) – Clusters of potential transport customers in these gap areas, including seven clusters around Haarlem, Schiphol, Leiden, Den Haag/Delft, Roosendaal, Breda, and Eindhoven.
- (F) Modal Shift Opportunity Areas (MSOAs) – Specific locations within the candidate clusters where new terminal infrastructure could be deployed.
The Temporary Port Terminal (TPT) Concept
The TPT concept addresses the challenge of transferring cargo at berths that are currently not equipped for cargo handling. Rather than requiring permanent investment in fixed infrastructure, the TPT is conceived as a lightweight, relocatable, and modular system that makes use of existing but underutilised quays – including abandoned and brownfield waterfront sites.
Candidate locations were identified across the seven Modal Shift Candidate clusters by studying population density, road traffic intensity, waterway accessibility, and the gap between potential freight demand and existing services. The result is a modular concept that can be adapted to local conditions and scaled with demand. Three example TPT configurations are described: a lean urban TPT for city-centre locations, an industrial-cluster gateway TPT for logistics zones, and a supply-chain-integrated TPT embedded within existing shipper or receiver operations.
Key design considerations include compliance with safety and access regulations, the availability of mobile cargo handling equipment (such as reach stackers and terminal tractors), and the potential to share equipment between nearby locations to reduce capital expenditure.
The Stow&Charge Hub (SCH) Concept
The SCH is a combined energy and cargo hub that connects electric trucks and inland vessels, provides efficient cargo transhipment between modes, and supplies electricity produced on-site from renewable sources. The AUTOFLEX vessel carries a standard 20-ft ZESpack battery container on its poop deck, which can be swapped at equipped terminals, eliminating the need for lengthy charging stops.
The SCH concept is structured in five levels of energy independence:
- Level 0 – Conventional inland terminal (baseline, no renewable energy)
- Level 1 – Battery-enabled SCH: ZESpacks available for vessel and truck charging from grid supply
- Level 2 – Charging-enabled SCH: on-site charging infrastructure added
- Level 3 – Partially energy-independent SCH: solar or wind generation partially offsets grid demand
- Level 4 – Fully energy-independent SCH: on-site renewable generation meets all terminal and vessel energy needs
Solar photovoltaic and wind energy solutions have been assessed for their suitability at inland terminal sites, including floating PV options for water surfaces. A total of 28 potential Stow&Charge locations across the Netherlands and Belgium were evaluated, covering sites from Alkmaar and Amsterdam to Antwerp, Ghent, Eindhoven, and Rotterdam. Recommendations for the most suitable initial locations and a potential network architecture are provided.
The Mobile Distribution Centre (MDC) Concept
The MDC concept targets the less-than-vessel (LVL) market – individual consignments that do not fill a full container – which is currently out of reach for inland waterway transport. The concept uses an ISO container as its base unit, within which individual customer consignments are transported, transhipped, and stored at designated locations for convenient collection.
The MDC was developed through a structured process of workshops, stakeholder interviews, and surveys. Multiple high-level concepts were identified, evaluated, and reduced to the most promising options before a final design was selected and developed in detail. The final MDC concept was realised as a hybrid demonstrator with both physical and virtual features, enabling validation of the logistics model and the handling interface before full-scale deployment.
Collection points can be existing port terminals, additional locations along the waterway, city centres, or industrial parks – including TPT sites. This flexibility allows the MDC to extend the reach of waterborne freight services into areas that no inland vessel has previously served.
The AUTOFLEX Vessel – Oskar 2.0 – as the Foundation
All three concepts are designed around the operational characteristics of the AUTOFLEX vessel, Oskar 2.0. The fully electric, unmanned CEMT II inland container vessel is 55 m long, 6.6 m wide, and carries up to 24 TEU. Its compact dimensions allow unobstructed navigation through the majority of locks, bridges, and terminals in the Netherlands and Belgium.
At a service speed of 8–10 km/h, Oskar 2.0’s daily energy demand remains within the capacity of a single ZESpack. At 10 km/h, the operational range reaches approximately 516 km under beginning-of-life battery conditions, making it well suited to corridor-based logistics with intermediate ZESpack swaps at Stow&Charge terminals.
Outlook: Building Towards D3.2
The concepts presented in this deliverable form the foundation for the subsequent AUTOFLEX deliverable D3.2, which will address the integrated AUTOFLEX transport system. The modular and scalable nature of the SCH, TPT, and MDC concepts is central to the project’s approach: starting small with low investment risk, growing with demand, and relocating assets if market conditions change.
Partner Contributions
This deliverable was produced by contributions across the AUTOFLEX consortium:
DFDS – Lead author, overall concept development and coordination
DST – Co-author, technical analysis, TPT and SCH concept development
SO – Co-author, vessel operational profiles and energy analysis
ISE – Co-author, MDC concept development and logistics modelling
Download D3.1