The federal government of Belgium has set aside a budget of 30 million euros to finance six hydrogen projects across the country, aiming to jumpstart its hydrogen industry.

Out of the 36 submissions received, six projects were selected under the “Clean Energy for Clean Industries” call for proposals, recommended by the Minister of Energy, Tinne Van der Straeten (Groen).

Selected projects include:

1. The “GrHyne” program by John Cockerill, which focuses on materials for electrolyzers up to 5 MW.
2. A partnership between John Cockerill, Bekaert, Colruyt, Deme, Imec, and Vito to develop membrane electrolysis.
3. France’s Lhyfe, which plans to produce green hydrogen at the port of Ostend.
4. Luminus, in collaboration with AGC, Materia Nova, and Fluxys, is exploring hydrogen production with gas at a site under construction in Seraing.
5. Bekaert will receive a portion of the funding for workforce development in hydrogen technology-related materials.
6. Wind energy specialist Storm aims to produce hydrogen locally from renewable energy sources at a location in Olen (Antwerp).
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A second call for projects will be launched this year, with a 20 million euro funding pool. Fluxys’ hydrogen-CO2 backbone has already secured €300 million in funding to transport these gases across the country. Additionally, €95 million has been allocated for the infrastructure needed to connect the Walloon and Flemish industry clusters and envelopes, with €117 million and €125 million respectively.

Source：FuelCellsWorks