Feedback • Annual Conference 2025

Building the hydrogen ecosystem – Belgium and its neighbouring countries

The room was packed for our first session dedicated to hydrogen’s role in shaping Europe’s energy transition. Here are some of the key highlights

A Growing European Hydrogen Ecosystem
Valerie Bouillon-Delporte, Executive Director at Clean Hydrogen Partnership, shared valuable insights with a Benelux perspective.

• Over €180 million in projects have been funded across the Benelux region — helping to de-risk investments and accelerate deployment.
• Hydrogen Valleys could be real game changers, connecting the dots across the region.
• Ports play a pivotal role as Hydrogen Hubs and gateways of the new H₂ ecosystem. Benelux & Belgium ports are clear frontrunners.

Renewable Hydrogen Production in Belgium

Stephan Windels (Virya Energy) presented concrete steps in domestic H₂ production, highlighting HyoffWind (Zeebrugge) and VALLHYEGE (Liège). projetcs. Hydrogen will play a key role in grid balancing for TSOs — with upcoming plants ready to step into this market.
 Sector coupling clearly represents a huge opportunity for hydrogen development.

Innovative Low-Carbon H₂ / CCS

• Jessie Ponce (Air Liquide) showcased an impressive portfolio, including Kairos@C, the first and largest cross-border CCS value chain in Antwerp — capturing, liquefying, shipping and permanently storing CO₂. Infrastructure is key.
• Daniel Simmons (ENGIE) presented H2BE, a major project producing low-carbon hydrogen from natural gas — a crucial step toward large-scale. Infrastructure is key

Power-to-X Optimisation & Flexibility

As highlighted by Thibaut Quetel (Centrica Energy), asset flexibility is one of the keys to competitive green hydrogen production. He presented live use cases of trading and optimising Power-to-X assets — including “No Cure, No Pay” services that have already delivered cost reductions and new revenue streams across European projects (e.g. in Denmark).

Innovative solutions to cut H₂ costs while boosting solar energy value.

Jan Rongé (Solhyd) unveiled flexible solar hydrogen plants that is a great complementary solution of Solar PV + BESS projects. This solution can reduce Grid Connections and can reinforce the business cases of Solar and Hydrogen in the same time. A first project will be delivered in Wallonia that will go for KW to MW scale.

Takeaway: From hydrogen valleys to flexible assets, from CCS to solar integration — European and Belgium’s hydrogen ecosystem is moving from concept to concrete action. Collaboration across regions and sectors is the fuel of this transformation.

Since Belgium is not operating on an island , it is very relevant to see what focus our neighbouring countries have regarding hydrogen and what is on top of their agenda.

Connection of Belgian grid with German core grid – project entering the next phase
As Fluxys is doing in Belgium, Germany is building the hydrogen backbone, the so-called German core grid in Germany. Nicolai Raß, of the German gas transmission system operator Open Grid Europe, explains the planned future roll-out with special focus on the trajectories already under construction.
With an investment volume of 18.9 billion euros, it will be Europe’s largest hydrogen network. The connection of the Belgian H2 grid with the German industrial clusters and H2 core grid is important for both countries and is facilitated by Fluxys through their participation in OGE.

Dutch Energy hubs “a bottom up approach”
Fred Hage explains how Essent, the Dutch energy supplier, sees a role for decentral hydrogen production and the creation of a dedicated regional hydrogen network supplying the so-called ‘cluster 6’ companies, outside the major industry clusters that will be connected by the national hydrogen backbone.
Besides local production and use of hydrogen, also small/medium scale cracking of ammonia – to imported through the ports – is within the scope of Essent. Local ammonia cracking in modular Turn-key plants with an output of 1-10 ton H2 per day, can feed the regional H2 grid.

FR: Dissolved Natural H2 Discovery in East France
In 2023, the French low-carbon energy producer Française de l’Energie (FDE) has discovered significant concentrations of natural hydrogen in one of the wells previously drilled by FDE in Eastern France. Yann Fouant of FDE presents the current activities of FDE and partners to develop/test dedicated detection tools and evaluate the dissolved H2 reserve on its future production potential.

Developing Hydrogen Valleys in Luxembourg and beyond
Professor Bradley Ladewig from the University of Luxembourg, presents LuxHyVal, the flagship Hydrogen Valley project in Luxembourg. A production of 500t/year of green hydrogen is envisaged of which 69% for industry (glass & metal), 31% for mobility (buses & trucks) , with first H2 production foreseen for Q1 2027. An important driver is the Hy4Link project, the cross border H2 infrastructure project developed by Creos(LUX), Fluxys (BE) and GTRgas (FR).

After an exciting first session on domestic hydrogen production, Session 2 focused on one of Europe’s strongest assets: technology innovation.

Belgium stands at the heart of Europe’s hydrogen revolution — from labs to market-ready solutions, local players are driving some of the most promising breakthroughs

Belgian Hydrogen Technology Champions

Belgium has a rich and innovative ecosystem — it’s time to be ambitious and proud of our champions and hidden gems :

• Chevron Phillips Chemicals : development of odorants for safe hydrogen delivery, improving leak detection and safety (Jasper Smets).
• Materia Nova – Turquoise Energy: transforming methane into clean hydrogen and solid carbon, a sustainable alternative to steam methane reforming with potential reuse for coal mines (Fabrizio Maseri).
• Hyve – next-generation thin membranes and electrodes for alkaline water electrolysis, increasing efficiency, flexibility and safety (Rufi Kurstjens).
• H2WIN – new enzyme-based catalysts as an alternative to platinum, offering a greener and more cost-effective solution (Philippe Lorge).
• Exion Hydrogen – containerized pressurized alkaline and PEM hydrogen production units, developed in Belgium and manufactured in Poland (Guy Verkoeyen).

High-Level Panel Discussion

A lively exchange between Belgian and European industry leaders explored the opportunities and challenges for hydrogen technology suppliers — from global competition to delays in investment decisions.

• The hype may have faded, yet the market keeps growing (+35% this year).
• However, two-thirds of electrolyser manufacturing is already in China, and Asia (China, India) is scaling faster, with >100MW projects in the pipeline.

This is a wake-up call for Europe:

• To maintain leadership, we must create mass demand and fully leverage EU production capacity, which remains strong and globally competitive
• At Belgian level, the full implementation of RED III is crucial.
• The Belgian Hydrogen Council plays a central role in supporting governments and policymakers.
• Europe and Belgium have solid positions; the long-term outlook remains confident. Yet, to stay competitive, the European mass market must accelerate.

There may be pushbacks, but hydrogen remains key to Europe’s industrial resilience.

Every molecule, every project counts! 

The third session of the Belgian Hydrogen Council Conference put the spotlight on transport — one of the hardest sectors to decarbonise, and a key test case for hydrogen’s real-world impact.

Refinery Route: A Key Driver for RFNBO Production and Import

Tom CLAERBOUT (TotalEnergies) opened the session, highlighting how refinery demand remains a central driver for the large scale development of the Renewable Fuels of Non-Biological Origin (RFNBOs) ecosystem..

A two-step approach is emerging:

1. Replace grey hydrogen with green hydrogen as feedstock — contributing directly to RED III transport targets.
2. Replace also the byproduct hydrogen with green H₂ as feedstock and use the byproduct hydrogen as energy source to substitute natural gas for firing.

Creating RED III RFNBOs through refineries proves cost-effective — limited extra cost at the pump, while enabling the RFNBO hydrogen market launch at scale.

In the medium to long term, all renewable pathways will be needed to meet RED III transport objectives, so let’s benefit from the large Belgian refining capacity.

From Import to Impact: Large-Scale RFNBO Supply for Transport & Industry

Wesley Aendenhof (VTTI) presented the Amplifhy Europe Program, kickstarting a network of ammonia import terminals and open-access cracking facilities – following an Infrastructure-as-a-Service model to produce clean hydrogen.

The Port of Antwerp-Bruges, through VTTI Antwerp Amplifhy, stands as a leading EU import hub, strategically positioned to anchor this network.

Launch of the Global Hydrogen Mobility Alliance – Belgian Initiatives

Stephan Herbst (Toyota Motor Europe) showcased the evolution of hydrogen mobility worldwide and in Europe.

Starting early, even before full-scale deployment, is essential:

• Competitive molecule production (all colors) is the first step.
• Connecting ecosystems and shifting to low-carbon & renewable hydrogen comes next.

Hydrogen in Heavy-Duty Transport: Hauler’s Perspective

Luc Haesaerts (HAESAERTS INTERMODAL) has demonstrated that support from regional and national authorities will be critical to close the TCO gap for hydrogen trucks and scale up heavy-duty mobility

Decarbonizing Maritime Transport: The Bunker Hub Challenge

Arne Strybos (Port of Antwerp-Bruges) emphasized the importance of hydrogen and green molecules in maritime decarbonization. As one of the top 10 bunker ports worldwide, accelerating adoption of alternative fuels to maintain competitiveness and sustainability is key.

The session — and the conference — concluded with a closing statement from Versmessen Bert, Ambassador of Belgium, highlighting the European energy and climate agenda and reaffirming hydrogen’s strategic role in achieving those goals.

Takeaway: From refineries to ports, trucks, and ships — hydrogen is proving to be a versatile enabler for Europe’s clean mobility future. The momentum is real, and collaboration will be key to scaling up.