Final go for first green hydrogen plant in Zeebrugge

After years of delay, the starting signal has been given for constructing the first green hydrogen factory in Zeebrugge. The final investment decision was taken on Thursday. The 25-megawatt renewable hydrogen factory, Hyoffwind, is a project by Virya Energy (Colruyt family) and two partners: German industrial gas specialist Messer and Hyoffgreen.

The latter is a collaboration between Flemish Energy Holding (Vlaamse Energie Holding, VEH) and Z-Kracht collaboration, both owned by Flemish municipalities. Fluxys was initially involved in the project’s feasibility study, but the company withdrew last year because its tasks were incompatible.

Electrolysis

Hydrogen will be produced by electrolysis of water and used for mobility (e.g., heavy transport and barges) and as a raw material for industrial customers. Solar panels and wind turbines will generate the electricity used for the process.

The investment costs of the Hyoffwind project amount to approximately 80 million euros, almost double the initial amount of 35 million. The hydrogen factory was previously promised 30 million euros in subsidies from the Flemish government with the help of the European Union’s NextGenerationEU recovery plan.

25 to 100 MW

The first plans for the hydrogen factory were made in 2018. Construction of the Hyoffwind factory will start soon and should produce the first molecules of green hydrogen by 2026.

The consortium has granted the factory’s building contract to Besix, Belgium’s biggest building contractor based in Brussels, and Belgian John Cockerill, a specialist in hydrogen electrolyzer installations.

Issues

The project’s first phase will have a capacity of 25 MW. This should produce enough hydrogen to save 25,000 tons of CO2 annually in the mobility and industrial sectors. The factory’s capacity can later be increased from 25 to 100 megawatts.

Virya and Messer will commercialize hydrogen production. To this end, the Hyoffwind project will also be connected to the future hydrogen network connecting production sites and industrial zones in Northwest Europe.

Like projects abroad, the project in Zeebrugge has been delayed in recent years because the market for green hydrogen is slow to develop. Cost and regulations remain issues.