(Credit: Plug Power)Plug Power Inc., a provider of hydrogen solutions, will build a 35-tons-per-day green hydrogen generation plant at Port of Antwerp-Bruges in the heart of Europe. Plug signed a 30-year concession agreement to build the plant at the Belgian port, the second largest in Europe. Plug plans to erect a 100-megawatt green hydrogen plant, using its own electrolyzer and liquefaction technology, on 28 acres of land leased under the agreement. Plug will produce up to 12,500 tons per year of liquid and gaseous green hydrogen for the European market.
Construction of the plant will begin upon completion of the permitting process, anticipated in late 2023. Initial production of green hydrogen is expected in late 2024, and plant commissioning will be in 2025.
The site location provides the opportunity for a ready supply of electricity from on-site and site-adjacent wind turbines generating dozens of megawatts, with an electric interconnection point less than a mile away. In addition, the site offers water, road, rail, and pipeline access for the delivery of green hydrogen accessibility. An open-access hydrogen pipeline will be built along the site, and Plug has signed a contract with Fluxys to engage in a feasibility study for enabling a connection to the pipeline.
Plug will build in the port’s NextGen District, an area for companies supporting the circular economy. Using the cluster being assembled in the NextGen district, Plug is exploring partnerships to complete the circular use of wastewater expelled during the production of green hydrogen.
North Sea countries are major producers of wind power with over 15 gigawatts (GW) of installed capacity. They have committed to grow capacity to 65 GW by 2030 and 150 GW by 2050, as part of a recent cooperation agreement signed by Belgium, Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands. The European Union recently launched a $315 billion REPowerEU initiative to support the shift from Russian fossil fuels to renewable energy including green hydrogen.
Recently in the US, Plug signed an agreement with Walmart to help power the retailer’s lift trucks and deliver green hydrogen using a fleet of liquid transport that it has put into service following last year’s acquisition of Applied Cryo Technologies, which included a distribution and storage network of liquid hydrogen and other cryogenic gases. Plug says the Walmart agreement is one of its first green hydrogen supply contracts.
