Belgian bus builders Van Hool and VDL are both actively building hydrogen buses and exporting them abroad. Nonetheless, for trucks and public transport (buses), hydrogen may be part of the solution as well. The potential of (green) hydrogen for the industry, in Flanders particularly, has an estimated “penetration” rate of about 50% in the processing industry, 10% in the steel industry and 30% in the synthetics and chemical industries (lacking sufficient reference data from the (petro)chemical sector, the latter number is most likely an underestimation).Īs in most countries, for transportation, the focus is mainly on the electrification of cars. As stated above, it is mainly used for processing chemical or petrochemical products. Industrially produced (grey) hydrogen flows through existing pipelines, which is separated during the processing of natural gas, or as the residual fraction of, for example, chlorine plants. Map of existing and planned Belgian hydrogen and related infrastructures (source: WaterstofNet, Cluster TWEED and Fluxys) 7 The Belgian network was mainly constructed in the 1960s and 1970s by Air Liquide, currently still active in the sector. The first hydrogen pipelines in Belgium were constructed in 1938, before the Second World War. In Belgium there are no less than 613 kilometres of hydrogen pipeline, with junctions around the ports of Ghent (North Sea Port) and Antwerp-Bruges, still one of the biggest networks worldwide anno 2023. In 2019, it was estimated that about 6 billion m³ of hydrogen was processed by the Belgian industry, with the Port of Antwerp being a significant user. 5īelgium today is already an important user of hydrogen technology, mainly in its petrochemical and chemical industries. Generally speaking, the potential for large-scale hydrogen production, import, transport and consumption by and for industry is the most promising use case in Belgium. Part 2 Hy-Politics – political considerations shaping the evolution of clean hydrogen policy
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