Brussels? • 16 June, 2023

In March, WaterstofNet and Cluster TWEED launched the Belgian Hydrogen Council (BHC) to consolidate and strengthen Belgium’s position in Europe and on the global stage as a pioneering hub of excellence for clean hydrogen. 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.

Several thematic working groups or “Tasks” were established that form the beating heart of the Council. They focus on topics like policy, infrastructure, promotion, internationalisation and education. For every task, we already had two meetings in which we defined the main topics to work on the coming period and had the first in-depth discussions on the highest priority actions. In this newsletter, you can find updates on the activities of these from the past three months.

The board of the BHC 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).

In the first two board meetings, the role and functioning of the Board was finetuned. The board will strengthen the impact of the BHC by representing it in high-level dialogues with the policy makers at the different Belgian competence levels. It will support the communication on the BHC’s activities and the Belgian hydrogen industry in general on the (inter)national scene. The board will meet every month and will provide guidance to the tasks.

Finally, the board members elected Port of Antwerp-Bruges in the person of Tom Hautekiet as a president. We wish Tom good luck and look forward to working together!

Tom Hautekiet: “Elected by the Board of the Belgian Hydrogen Council, Port of Antwerp-Bruges will take up the role as president. Together with the companies involved in the Belgian Hydrogen Council, we can position Belgium even more as the hydrogen hub. A strong connection with the different hydrogen councils of the other countries will also be an important objective. I’m looking forward to working together in the coming years.”