The Belgian consortium, Hyve, is working on hydrogen economy at home and abroad
Carbon neutrality throughout the world. With their strong consortium Hyve, the Flemish research centres imec and VITO and the industrial partners John Cockerill, Bekaert, DEME and the Colruyt Group are well on their way to achieving that goal.
Excess wind and solar energy can be converted to hydrogen via water electrolysis, one of the essential pillars of the transition from fossil fuels to green, renewable energy sources. However, the large-scale production of renewable hydrogen is not yet a competitive proposition. For this to happen, the price of green electricity must first fall further, cost-efficient and profitable electrolysers must be produced and economies of scale must be created. Cheaper green electricity can be obtained both from floating wind turbines in the open sea, where the wind is always stronger, and from the combination of onshore wind and solar energy. Only when these conditions are met will the price of hydrogen and of electrical fuels such as ammonia and methanol fall.
The six hydrogen pioneers mentioned above represent the entire value chain. Their strategic alliance should lead to a carbon-neutral future. Accordingly, imec and VITO are working on more efficient electrolysis technology, John Cockerill is going to integrate the results of that study into its alkaline electrolysers, Bekaert is going to supply the suitable materials for it, DEME is going to use it to convert wind and solar energy into green hydrogen and the Colruyt Group is going to investigate the applications for sustainable transport.