DEME Group is part of a group of companies and research centres that are joining forces to invest in the production of green hydrogen in the Flemish region.
The other participants in the Hyve consortium are Flemish research centres Imec and Vito, together with Bekaert, Colruyt Group and John Cockerill.
They aim to deliver cost-efficient and sustainable production of hydrogen at gigawatt level.
“Hyve will put the Flemish region in the driver seat for the deployment of a hydrogen economy and the transition towards a carbon neutral industry in Europe,” the partners said.
The consortium brings together players across the value chain to achieve the goal, merging expertise in developing new components for electrolysis, with material suppliers, integration companies that will integrate the new components into electrolysers, and companies that will use the infrastructure to generate green hydrogen.
Imec and Vito will leverage their knowledge to boost the efficiency of the electrolysis-technology.
Bekaert, a supplier of metallic porous transport layers for electrolysis, will supply the appropriate materials.
John Cockerill, a producer of alkaline electrolysers, will integrate the results into its production.
DEME aims at using the electrolysers to convert wind and solar energy into green hydrogen and derived green products.
The company aims to import cheap green hydrogen products into Europe, complementary to local European production through the ‘Hyport’concept.
Retailer Colruyt Group will support research applications for sustainable transport.
It is already running a hydrogen filling station, testing hydrogen-powered forklifts as well as the first heavy-duty trucks, collaborating on a green hydrogen plant in Zeebrugge through the energy holding company Virya Energy and is exploring e-fuels via Dats24.
DEME Group chief executive Luc Vandenbulcke said: “In line with its vision to provide solutions for a sustainable future, DEME is proud to participate in Hyve, a project in which partners along the value chain jointly develop a novel green hydrogen technology.
“This initiative complements and reinforces DEME’s ongoing efforts towards solving global challenges, like reduction of CO2 emissions, and is fully aligned with its strategic objectives.”
Colruyt Group chief executive Jef Colruyt said: “Colruyt Group has been producing its own green hydrogen for about 10 years.
“Three years ago we opened the very first fully integrated public hydrogen filling station in Europe.
“In the coming months, four more public hydrogen filling stations will be equipped.
“Recently, our group put the first 44-ton hydrogen-powered electric heavy-duty truck in Europe on the roads.
“We clearly belief in hydrogen technology as a promising zero-emission solution for transport and logistics and are committed to invest in innovative hydrogen applications.
“We are convinced that with our partners in a strategic cooperation for the development of a new promising hydrogen electrolysis component, we can take important steps towards a more sustainable mobility and energy supply.”
Bekaert chief executive Oswald Schmid said: “Bekaert has a commitment to create green and sustainable solutions.
“Therefore, we look forward to working closely with the consortium partners and develop the building blocks for this electrolysis technology of the future, fully consistent with our ‘better together’ aspiration.
“We are committed to delivering long-term value to all our stakeholders and as such, create sustainable business partnerships. Like the one of this consortium.”
John Cockerill Group chief executive Jean-Luc Maurange said: “John Cockerill is very pleased to partner with renowned research centres and major Belgian industrial players on this innovative project.
“Thanks to our position as world leader in the manufacture of high-capacity electrolysers and our expertise in the field of hydrogen, we can put our know-how at the service of improving performance to make this project an innovative and iconic success in decarbonising industry.”
Vito managing director Dirk Fransaer said: “Sustainable development is in Vito’s DNA. We focus on a systems approach, paying attention to the whole techno-economic value chain.
“That is the best way to approach the complex problems of the energy transition.
“We do this together with our EnergyVille partners and with the necessary focus on industrial applicability.
“Hyve is a striking example of such collaboration and constitutes an important step for the research on green hydrogen in Flanders.”
Imec chief executive Luc Van den Hove said: “As a world-renowned research centre in nanoelectronics and digital technology, we believe that technology is key in realising a sustainable society and we are committed to leverage our expertise to enable this.
“Our ‘power-to-molecules’ programme, investigating how CO2 can be converted into valuable molecules for industry, points the way towards a carbon-neutral society.
“Within Hyve, Imec and Vito combine their knowledge and transfer it to an ambitious, large-scale innovation project to make Flanders a frontrunner in green hydrogen.”