Belgian firms and researchers join forces in "green hydrogen" push

NV Bekaert SA

28/05/2021 14:21

By Marine Strauss
    BRUSSELS, May 28 (Reuters) - Several Belgian industrial
groups and research centres on Friday said they had formed a
consortium to promote the production of "green hydrogen" in the
Dutch-speaking Flanders region to help industries lower their
carbon footprint.
    Bekaert  BEKB.BR , specialised in steel wire and coatings,
the retailer Colruyt  COLR.BR , the holding company Ackermans &
van Haaren  ACKB.BR  and the engineering group John Cockerill
said their consortium, Hyve, would promote cost-effective and
sustainable production of hydrogen for fuel at gigawatt level.
    The firms gave no indication of the size of their planned
investment, however, or what precise form it would take.
    Green hydrogen, produced by the electrolysis of water from
renewable energy, is seen as one of the keys to the European
Union's drive to achieve "net zero" carbon emissions by 2050.
    "To make green hydrogen competitive, the price of green
electricity needs to fall further, electrolysers need to become
more cost-efficient, and economy of scale needs to do its trick
in lowering production costs," said DEME group, which
specialises in dredging and is involved in the project.
    The Flemish IMEC and VITO research centres will work to
improve the efficiency of electrolysing technology. Bekaert will
supply materials while John Cockerill, a producer of alkaline
electrolysers based in French-speaking Wallonia, will deal with
production.
    DEME, which also deals with offshore energy, plans to use
the new electrolysers to convert wind and solar energy into
green hydrogen. Colruyt will support research into sustainable
transport.
    "We clearly believe in hydrogen technology as a promising
zero-emission solution for transport and logistics and are
committed to investing in innovative hydrogen applications,"
Colruyt CEO Jef Colruyt said in a statement.

 (Reporting by Marine Strauss @StraussMarine; Editing by Kevin
Liffey)
 ((Marine.Strauss@thomsonreuters.com; +32 2 287 6830; Reuters
Messaging: marine.strauss.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))