The new 48-kilometer hydrogen pipeline that Belgian gas network operator Fluxys is constructing between the industrial clusters of the ports of Antwerp (Kallo) and Ghent (Zelzate) is facing a difficult period.

According to the business newspapers De Tijd and L’Echo, no binding contracts have yet been signed with any customers.

The pipeline network is intended to facilitate the transition from natural gas to hydrogen – and, consequently, to take trucks off the road – but for now, customers are taking a wait-and-see approach because they don’t yet know what it will cost them to use the pipelines.

At the same time, the broader European green hydrogen market is simply taking off more slowly than expected.

Construction permit suspended

In fact, Fluxys finds itself in a bind with the underground infrastructure network connecting the Flemish seaports: on the one hand, the market isn’t taking off; on the other hand, the project is proving more expensive than planned.

For example, work on the new hydrogen pipeline, which involves routing the Kallo-Zelzate pipeline corridor alongside the E34 and an existing natural gas pipeline, was halted for an extended period.

In April 2025, the Council for Permit Disputes suspended the construction permit because some fruit growers feared damage to their crops. This was because insufficient research had been conducted to determine whether discharges from groundwater drainage would have harmful effects on the surface water and a local stream.

Due to that delay, Fluxys missed the deadline for applying for an 80-million-euro European loan, writes De Tijd/L’Echo. And last year, Fluxys also lost a 250-million-euro federal subsidy.

Customers are holding back

The logical consequence of these reduced subsidies is that a larger portion of the investment costs will be passed on to future users through transportation rates. But for now, those customers are holding back, precisely because the market isn’t keeping up and there isn’t much clarity yet regarding the rate policy.

Most business plans involving green hydrogen tend to fall apart quickly, partly because they prove too expensive. In summary: the hydrogen market has great potential, but it remains highly uncertain and heavily dependent on government subsidies.

As well as on high technological costs and the infrastructure that needs to be built (hydrogen can corrode certain types of steel, making them brittle, which is why, in some cases, new specialized hydrogen pipelines must be built instead of reusing existing gas pipelines).

As a result, customers are unwilling to sign contracts until a sufficient supply of low-cost hydrogen is guaranteed. If very little gas flows through the pipelines in the early years, the transportation rates per unit are usually sky-high, or the government or grid operator must cover the loss through subsidies or by spreading the costs across other grid users.

Energy experts also point out that hydrogen remains scarce and expensive at present.

Hub for import and transit

Several European countries are focusing on building a national hydrogen backbone network to make their heavy industry more sustainable. Fluxys is focusing heavily on the ports of Antwerp-Bruges and Ghent in this effort.

From there, hydrogen – or derivatives such as green ammonia – will be transported via pipelines not only to Belgian industry but also to the Netherlands and the German hinterland.

Fluxys is therefore committed to becoming a hub – and Belgium a country for import and transit – partly because, unlike the Netherlands and Germany, for example, Belgium does not have underground salt caverns for large-scale storage, which is essential for balancing fluctuations in wind and solar energy.

But just as in Belgium, we’re seeing in those countries as well that end users are hesitant due to the high prices of green hydrogen – it’s still 3 to even 5 times more expensive than fossil fuels.

Spain and Portugal are the cheapest places in Europe to produce green hydrogen, and the H2Med project aims to ensure that this low-cost hydrogen reaches Northern European industry.

That pipeline under the Mediterranean Sea to Marseille is scheduled to open in 2030 and will transport 2 million metric tons of green hydrogen annually.

However, that project has also been delayed by two years and is expected to meet 10% of the total demand projected by the EU.

Another factor at play in Belgium is that many Belgian companies are opting for industrial heat pumps, electric boilers, or batteries instead of hydrogen. As a result, hydrogen is left only for sectors where no electric alternatives exist, such as heavy chemicals and steel production.