Infrastructure partner Fluxys Belgium unveiled its BE-HyStore pilot project to store hydrogen in the underground in Loenhout, at an event attended by Federal Minister of the Economy and Employment Pierre-Yves Dermagne and Federal Minister of Energy Tinne Van der Straeten.More than a kilometre beneath the surface at the Fluxys Loenhout site in the province of Antwerp, there is a unique geological structure suitable for storing gaseous molecules. Loenhout site plays a vital role in the security of Belgium’s natural gas supply. Fluxys wishes to continue to perform this role for hydrogen. With a potential H2 storage capacity of 2.4 TWh, equivalent to 30 million electric vehicles, the Loenhout site could play an integral role here.
Alexander De Croo, Belgian Prime Minister: “As a country, we are taking a new step every day to produce our own energy and drive down the price for our citizens and businesses. Energy from sun and wind is largely dependent on weather conditions.
By storing the energy produced as hydrogen on land, demand can be better met. Here in Loenhout, gas has been stored for decades.
Now we are starting to test storage of non-fossil energy sources. Our hydrogen strategy does not remain just fine declarations but is being put into practice.”
Pierre-Yves Dermagne, Federal Minister of the Economy and Employment: “I welcome Fluxys’ launch of a major hydrogen storage pilot project in Loenhout.
Our green transition and sustainable prosperity depend on such experiments together with the development of the hydrogen backbone and the energy projects on the coast and in the ports.
Innovation in the energy sector will support the economy and the employment, and enable Belgium to position itself as a leader in new markets.”
Tinne Van der Straeten, Federal Minister of Energy: “Hydrogen is essential to greening our heavy industry and meeting our climate goals. As with offshore wind, we are making Belgium a leader in green hydrogen: a few months ago with the construction of the first hydrogen pipelines and today with hydrogen storage at Loenhout. This highly innovative concept has emerged from a research project supported by the Energy Transition Fund. Our energy strategy is aimed at taking our energy future into our own hands through renewable energy and accelerating our energy independence. We are paving the way to a sustainable and climate-neutral future for our country.”
Pascal Baylocq, CEO of Geostock: “This pilot is a world first for injecting hydrogen into an aquifer. The test has the potential to confirm our initial feasibility studies. We would like to congratulate Fluxys on being the first to take this step and are delighted to be working with the company on this project. The results of this test could provide access to vast hydrogen storage capacities across Europe in the future, supporting the challenges of the energy transition.”
Louis Sileghem, Ghent University Hydrogen Platform Manager: “We are pleased to be able to continue the long-standing collaboration between Fluxys and Ghent University on hydrogen research through the BE-HyStore project, supported by the Belgian federal government. This new project will make it possible to bridge the gap between academia and industrial applications. We are proud to be leading the way in pioneering research into underground hydrogen storage, which has the potential to revolutionise how we store renewable energy.”
Pascal De Buck, CEO of Fluxys: “Storing energy in the form of hydrogen molecules is key to providing flexibility and security for our energy system in the future. With this pilot project, we are demonstrating our determination to support and speed up the energy transition by leveraging all the advantages of our infrastructure.”
Photo of Fluxys
Press release https://is.gd/kz7Gsh
