STARTING POINTS
BHC IS A NATIONAL COUNCIL, NOT FEDERAL NOR REGIONAL
This means a joint effort towards federal and regional actors.
INDUSTRY IS IN THE LEAD, NOT GOVERNEMENT
- Ideas, solutions, position papers will be based upon industry needs
- Members of WIC and H2Hub are the core of the BHC
- In order to have as much as possible buy-in from industry, specific industrial federations will be involved in the tasks
BHC IS FACILITATING THE COMPLETE VALUE CHAIN OF HYDROGEN
All parts of the value chain will be considered as equal.
BHC FOCUSES ON GREEN AND LOW CARBON HYDROGEN AND DERIVATIVES
Technology neutrality, no opposition against other technologies, focus on smart implementation/facilitation of hydrogen (derivatives)
WaterstofNet and Tweed have both been coordinating their regional hydrogen clusters in Flanders and Wallonia respectively for several years and ointly established a national hydrogen council that aims to transcend the various political levels in our country. The BHC 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.
The Council is neither a regional nor a federal initiative but it is a national council driven by the hydrogen industry.
The 150 Belgian members of the Waterstof Industrie Cluster coordinated by WaterstofNet since 2015 and the 70 members of the H2Hub Wallonia coordinated by Cluster Tweed since 2020 are members of the Belgian Hydrogen Council.
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. Creating a Belgian Hydrogen Council is crucial in consolidating and strengthening this leadership in hydrogen. As a matter of fact, 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. The four competent ministers have all expressed their support for this new initiative.
BHC Board
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).