The U.S. company Power to Hydrogen will start production of green hydrogen this Friday in the Port of Antwerp. The site opens at the so-called NextGen District, the innovation hub of Port of Antwerp-Bruges on the premises of the former Opel factory.

The goal is to produce 50 metric tons of green hydrogen annually. The company is deliberately starting small so it can grow gradually and demonstrate that the technology works.

The news is noteworthy because Plug Power – also an American company – recently scrapped its plans for a hydrogen plant at that same site, which is set up as a sort of test environment for energy transition and circularity projects within the Port of Antwerp-Bruges. It aims to position itself as a European import hub for green hydrogen.

$1 to $2 per kilogram hydrogen

Power to Hydrogen (P2H2), a company that has raised approximately 23 million dollars to date from investors including the Flemish investment fund Finindus, aims to accelerate the transition to a green hydrogen economy using AEM (Anion Exchange Membrane) electrolysis.

This approach is expected to significantly reduce the cost of green hydrogen production precisely because it allows for flexible switching between electrolysis and energy storage.

Specifically, P2H2 uses an AEM electrolyzer, instead of an AEL or PEM electrolyzer, that operates with less expensive materials and can be shut down when electricity is expensive – which makes the system flexible to use depending on energy prices.

The system has a capacity of 500 kilowatts. The goal is to reduce the total cost of hydrogen to $1 to $2 per kilogram, which would make hydrogen a viable alternative to fossil fuels.

With the help of space technology

Remarkable about this technology is its origin: NASA and… the moon. With NASA’s support, Power to Hydrogen tested and developed reversible fuel cell technology with the goal of economically harvesting solar energy on the moon and storing it as hydrogen for use during the two-week-long lunar nights when there is no sunlight.

A device with this technology can operate in two directions. In the “forward” direction (electrolysis), it converts water and electricity into hydrogen and oxygen – the same process as an electrolyzer.

In the “reverse” direction, it functions as a fuel cell: it recombines the hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity and water.

Cost reduction

That same technology is now being used for terrestrial applications, such as in Antwerp: producing, storing, and using hydrogen as a decarbonized energy source.

However, their AEM technology is a hybrid liquid alkaline/membrane electrolyzer. The major advantage: by using inexpensive, earth-abundant materials such as stainless steel and nickel – instead of expensive metals like iridium, titanium, platinum, and gold – they can reduce the cost of an electrolyzer stack by about 65%.

First customer

The success in Antwerp has apparently already led to follow-up orders – there are plans for a second industrial system in Norway, in collaboration with the Norwegian research institute SINTEF.

And P2H2 has already secured its first customer in Antwerp: the Dutch firm Holthausen. In addition, the company – which deliberately follows the “prove it small, then scale” approach – also aims to attract customers with the Port of Antwerp itself.

Small scale, big boost

For the Port of Antwerp-Bruges, the arrival of the American deep-tech company – following the setback with Power Plug – is certainly a boost.

The arrival of Plug Power – albeit with a very different, larger, and ultimately failed project – had already given Antwerp a certain reputation as a “hydrogen port” within the sector. And that undoubtedly played a role in another American company making the same choice – even though P2H2’s approach is now much more cautious.

But several of P2H2’s own investors are also European and global energy companies, such as E.ON, EDP, ESP, and American Electric Power, which are united in the Free Electrons innovation program for utilities.

Co-financing by the port

These parties were themselves looking for a place to test this technology, and the Port of Antwerp – after all, the heart of Europe’s largest integrated petrochemical cluster – offered just that environment: a testing ground with a low barrier to entry, short-term concessions, and co-financing by the port.

If all goes well, Power to Hydrogen aims to increase production tenfold to 500 metric tons per year by early 2028. By the end of this year, the company aims to employ about 3 people, a number that could be scaled up to 10 to 20 jobs within a few years.