Maersk to build battery logistics centre in Germany
The logistics group Maersk is building a new logistics centre in Berkhof near Hanover for the storage and handling of electric car batteries and components for the production of the batteries.
With a total of 20,000 square metres spread over two halls, it will be larger than the similar warehouse opened by Maersk in Teplice in the Czech Republic in November 2022. Construction has already begun on the new centre in Berkhof on the A7, which is “close to the production facilities of several car manufacturers”, according to the statement. Maersk expects completion in May 2024.
The small community of Berkhof lies north of Lower Saxony’s state capital, but has its own motorway exit on the A7. In Lower Saxony, of course, the Volkswagen plants in Wolfsburg and Hanover are worthy of mention, as is the cell factory under construction in Salzgitter. Electric cars are also built at the Emden plant in Lower Saxony. The warehouse in Teplice already had a certain proximity to VW Group plants, such as the MEB factories in Zwickau and Dresden or the Skoda parent plant in Mlada Boleslav.
According to Maersk, the two halls in Berkhof with a clear height of twelve metres will be able to accommodate up to 34,000 pallets. The batteries are monitored by a sophisticated safety system. For example, in the event of increased temperature or size expansion, a pallet is evacuated fully automatically and stowed safely in a special container outside, where it can be examined further.
In addition to storage and repackaging, the services offered will include quality control, battery charging and other services. And: if the customer insists, the warehouse can be cut into separate departments to spatially separate the storage of their own batteries from competitor products. Unlike in Teplice, where the announcement also emphasised the delivery of batteries by rail, the German warehouse is likely to be served only by truck – Berkhof has no (freight) railway station.
“Logistics in the automotive industry is one of the most demanding. Through our control over all important assets along the transport chain from the factory in Asia to the use of the parts in a plant in Europe, we can offer our customers not only tailor-made, but above all very resilient and flexible logistics solutions,” said Jens-Ole Krenzien, Maersk Managing Director North Europe Continent. “The logistics center in Berkhof will be a central building block for transporting and temporarily storing the batteries as the most important element in e-mobility.”
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