Agfa-Gevaert invests 50 million euros in new Mortsel plant for hydrogen membranes
Agfa-Gevaert won the essenscia Innovation Award 2022 in October for its membrane technology in the production of green hydrogen. Agfa-Gevaert is currently at the world's top with its membrane technology. It owes this to the development of its product Zirfon for the production of green hydrogen. "In green hydrogen, water is separated into oxygen and hydrogen gas. This is done in an electrochemical cell with renewable energy. During this process, both gases must be separated. When they come together, an explosion occurs. Our membrane takes care of this while being up to four times more productive than other membranes. The lifetime of our product is also much longer. This leads to a much more interesting cost for hydrogen production," explains Marc Van Damme of Agfa.
Many customers in this sector are already convinced, as Zirfon's production capacity in Mortsel will be greatly increased. "Currently we can produce Zirfon for three gigawatts of electrolysis, but in two years this will no longer be enough to meet demand. Therefore, by the summer of 2025, we will convert an existing production hall to make a quantity of membranes good for twenty gigawatts of electrolysis. This conversion will directly provide one hundred additional jobs in Mortsel," Van Damme looks ahead. "This ensures that we will invest heavily in our Mortsel branch, namely 50 million euros. For the first time in seventeen years, more working hours will also be performed here again”, he concluded.
