Belgian Hydrogen Council
WaterstofNet and Tweed have both been coordinating their regional hydrogen clusters in Flanders and Wallonia respectively for several years. In March 2023 they jointly established a national hydrogen council that aims to transcend the various political levels in Belgium. The Belgian Hydrogen Council will take on important tasks such as the promotion of the Belgian hydrogen industry at home and abroad, as well as advise policymakers on the rollout of their regional and federal hydrogen strategies.
With Europe rapidly accelerating its ambitions and activities on hydrogen to meet its decarbonisation targets and to become independent of fossil fuels. Belgium has led a pioneering role in hydrogen technology development. This has been possible thanks to suppliers and the country’s ports as a unique geographic location for import and consumption of hydrogen, and governments aiming for hydrogen leadership in Europe. The creating of a Belgian Hydrogen Council was crucial for consolidating and strengthening this leadership in hydrogen. The Belgian hydrogen industry has been calling for a long time for the creation of a national forum where companies are in the driving seat and tangible results are the main goal. With this Belgian Hydrogen Council, Belgium follows the example of other countries such as Germany and France.
National Council
The Belgian Hydrogen Council will take on some important tasks such as profiling and promoting the Belgian hydrogen industry at home and abroad, acting as a representative of the Belgian hydrogen ecosystem in national and international forums. The organization also aims at advising our various Belgian policymakers on the rollout of their regional and federal hydrogen strategies. The Council is neither a regional nor a federal initiative but it is a national council driven by the hydrogen industry. The industry is the Council's pilot with the support of the various governments.
Membership
The Belgian members of the Waterstof Industrie Cluster coordinated by WaterstofNet since 2015 and the members of the H2Hub Wallonia coordinated by Cluster Tweed since 2020 are automatically members of the Belgian Hydrogen Council (± 200 members). Thus, the Council effectively seals a partnership and brings together the existing industrial hydrogen ecosystems in Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels that reflect the entire Belgian hydrogen sector. It is these companies that will be the driving force of the Council.
Members
Organisation of the Council
Five thematic working groups or "Tasks" are already being set up. These will become the beating heart of the Council.
- Task 1 will focus on advising the various Belgian authorities on important hydrogen issues and will develop proposals on topics such as hydrogen certification.
- Task 2 will deal with the development of hydrogen infrastructure in Belgium.
- Task 3 (Promotion) and Task 4 (Internationalization) will work on raising the profile of our companies at home and abroad.
- Task 5 will focus on training and education around hydrogen. New working groups may be created according to the needs of our companies. The interested companies can become members of the different Tasks. Relevant sector federations like essenscia, Agoria and FEBEG are also invited to contribute to the Tasks.
Board of the Belgian Hydrogen Council
The Board of the Belgian Hydrogen Council is formed by eight companies, covering the hydrogen value chain. These companies were elected among all cluster members and will represent the Belgian Hydrogen Council for the coming two years: ENGIE (production), John Cockerill (technology), Fluxys (infrastructure), Port of Antwerp-Bruges (ports & import), ArcelorMittal (industry), INEOS (industry) Virya Energy (mobility) and Sirris (research).
Program Office of the Belgian Hydrogen Council
WaterstofNet and Cluster Tweed together form the “program office” and take on the secretariat, organization and coordination of the Belgian Hydrogen Council.
More info : www.belgianhydrogencouncil.be