Renewed Belgian federal hydrogen strategy launched in Antwerp

Today, Belgium's renewed federal hydrogen strategy was presented at the Port House in Antwerp, in the presence of Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, Federal Minister of Energy Tinne Van der Straeten, Secretary of State for Relance and Science Policy Thomas Dermine and a number of industry stakeholders.

The first federal hydrogen strategy for Belgium was launched in October 2021, with the definition of four pillars:

Belgium as an import and transit hub for green hydrogen in Europe the leadership of Belgian companies in the hydrogen value chain, the development of a robust hydrogen market and international cooperation.

Recent geopolitical events and the ensuing energy crisis, have triggered an acceleration of the European hydrogen strategy with increased ambitions around hydrogen production, import and use.

In light of these increased ambitions, the Belgian federal government has also developed a revision of its strategy.

The four pillars have been further concretized and ambitions tightened.

The projected import of hydrogen and hydrogen derivatives in 2030 has been significantly increased from 3-6TWh in the original strategy to 20TWh in the new plan.

This looks at North Sea hydrogen production through the development of a North Sea electricity and hydrogen network, as well as hydrogen transported via pipelines from Southern Europe and North Africa and hydrogen derivatives imported via ship from overseas.

To support companies and knowledge institutions, existing instruments will be further developed to maximize opportunities for hydrogen technology and investments will be made in a test center.

The development of a hydrogen market will be further facilitated by the development of a hydrogen pipeline network and with the development of a certification scheme and a market platform.

Cooperation remains essential, both with regional authorities and the local hydrogen ecosystem and with international partners.

The federal government is therefore explicitly expressing its support for the Belgian Hydrogen Council, which will be coordinated by WaterstofNet and Cluster Tweed.

Colleague Isabel François participated in the panel discussion with the topic 'What do companies and knowledge institutions need to realize their hydrogen ambitions'?

The panel discussion was moderated by Thomas Dermine, State Secretary for Economic Recovery and Strategic Investments, in charge of Science. Other panelists included Ilham Khadri (CEO Solvay), Raphael Tilot (Executive President Renewables & Hydrogen, John Cockerill), Peter Simkens (Business development manager, Von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics).