Under the name Hyve, the consortium is aiming to develop cost-efficient and sustainable production of hydrogen at a gigawatt level.
Within the European Union's Green Deal, hydrogen technology is considered essential in the energy transition towards a carbon neutral society and is important for industries like the chemical industry, the steel and cement industry, and in heavy duty transport, where green hydrogen is considered to be key in decarbonisation.
The Hyve consortium brings together players across the value chain to deliver on this goal, merging expertise in developing new components for electrolysis, with material suppliers, integration companies that will integrate the new components into their electrolysers, and companies that will use this innovative infrastructure to generate green hydrogen.
Research centres imec and VITO (partners in EnergyVille) will leverage their knowledge to boost the efficiency of the electrolysis-technology. Imec’s expertise in solid state electrolytes, electrode surfaces, and process technology at nanoscale is combined with VITO’s expertise in membranes, catalysis, and system integration.
Bekaert, a supplier of Metallic Porous Transport Layers for electrolysis, will supply the appropriate materials while John Cockerill, a leader in the production of alkaline electrolyzers, will integrate the results into its production.
DEME, a specialist in dredging and offshore energy services, aims at using the novel electrolysers to convert wind and solar energy into green hydrogen and derived green products ('e-fuels'). Through the ‘Hyport’-concept, DEME aims to import cheap green hydrogen products into Europe, complementary to local European production.
Retailer Colruyt Group will support research applications for sustainable transport and 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.
“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' program, investigating how CO2 can be converted into valuable molecules for industry, points the way towards a carbon-neutral society”, said Luc Van den hove, CEO at imec. “Within Hyve, imec and VITO will combine their knowledge and transfer it to an ambitious, large-scale innovation project to make Flanders a frontrunner in green hydrogen.”
