The EU Commission has approved €5.4 billion in funding from 15 member states, including Belgium, for the ‘IPCEI Hy2Tech’ project.

    As the EU seeks to combat climate change by reducing CO2 emissions, hydrogen provides an appealing alternative due to the carbon-neutral nature of its technologies.

    As a result, the Commission has made the development of a sustainable and innovative hydrogen industry in Europe a top priority, with Hy2Tech serving as its showpiece project.

    Using hydrogen technologies necessitates the implementation of the hydrogen value chain, which divides the process into different fields that each require expertise.

    Hy2Tech will cover a wide range of aspects of the value chain, including hydrogen generation, fuel cells, hydrogen storage, transportation, and distribution, as well as end-user applications.

    The Hy2Tech project was jointly prepared and notified by fifteen Member States: Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia and Spain.

    The goal is to bring together various companies from various industries to create green hydrogen-powered steel, cement, chemical, coal, and pharmaceutical products.

    According to a press release issued by the Commission on Friday, the participating countries will provide up to €5.4 billion in public funding, which is expected to unlock an additional €8.8 billion in private investment and create 20,000 new jobs.

    Overall, 35 companies with activities in one or more Member States, including SMEs and start-ups, will participate in 41 different projects.

    They will closely collaborate with each other but also with 300 external partners from across Europe, such as universities and research organisations.

    From a Belgian perspective, only one of the 35 companies involved in the project operates in the country: John Cockerill. They will be given the task of developing hydrogen technologies.