(Antwerp / Netherlands) – The port of Antwerp-Bruges is to become a “hotspot for the circular economy”. The operator has now gained two new companies for the development of a project called “NextGen District”: the US manufacturer of electrolyzers and fuel cells, Plug Power Inc., and the Belgian water treatment specialist, Ekopak NV.
100 MW green hydrogen plant
According to Plug Power, it will be a 100 megawatt plant to produce green hydrogen 
with a capacity of 35 tons per day in the port area. To do this, the company signed a 30-year concession agreement and leased a 28-hectare property. The Americans want to produce up to 12.500 tons of liquid and gaseous green hydrogen here annually for the European market.
Construction of the facility is expected to begin at the end of 2023 once the approval process has been completed. According to plans, the first pilot production of green hydrogen will start in 2024, and the factory is scheduled to go into operation in 2025.
“With this system we want to contribute to the port of Antwerp-Bruges becoming a European hydrogen hub,” says Plug Power Managing Director Andy Marsh. The proximity to one of the largest chemical clusters in Europe was a decisive factor in the location decision.
Circular water use
Ekopak will also occupy a place in the NextGen District. The company from Tielt, Belgium, is building a water treatment plant there under the name “Waterkracht” as part of a joint venture with the water supplier Water-Link and the Flemish investment company PMV.
This will purify the wastewater of the residents of Antwerp and produce up to 3.000 cubic meters of cooling and process water per hour at full capacity. This means that 20 billion liters of wastewater could be reused every year and distributed to industrial customers via a pipeline network. Ekopak also wants to treat the NextGen District's local rainwater and wastewater into industrial water.
Hydrogen hub for Europe
The total value of the investments in these two projects amounts to around 400 million euros 
According to a statement from the port operator, at least 60 new jobs will be created. “Green hydrogen and circular water use are the fundamental elements of climate change,” says Jacques Vandermeiren, CEO Port of Antwerp-Bruges. “I am convinced that these projects will ensure that other companies follow.”
The location offers the opportunity to use electricity from the on-site wind turbines and the neighboring wind power plants. Only recently, the North Sea neighbors Belgium, Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands in a “Green Power Plant of EuropeThe plan agreed to increase wind power output from 2030 to 15 gigawatts in 65 and to 2050 gigawatts by 150.
Plug Power expands European presence
The location also offers access to water, road and rail. A hydrogen pipeline will be built along the site as part of a European freely accessible “hydrogen backbone”. Plug Power has signed a contract with the Belgian natural gas transmission system operator Fluxys SA to carry out a feasibility study for the connection.
Plug Power is expanding its presence in Europe with the project in Antwerp. It is being built in Duisburg European headquarters with a service and logistics center that is scheduled to start operations at the beginning of 2022. In May the company announced a joint Ventureto build a 10 megawatt electrolysis plant in Hungary. In December, the company completed the takeover of the Dutch technology company Frames Goup and is also building it together Renault is setting up a production facility for hydrogen-powered light commercial vehicles in Flins, France. More Activities include markets in Spain and Portugal, among others.
Hub for world trade
The port of Antwerp-Bruges is located in a strategically important location and offers transport connections to Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Great Britain and France. The operator, a stock corporation owned by the city of Antwerp and the city of Bruges, employs 1.800 people. The presence of 1.400 companies directly and indirectly provides 164.000 jobs with a value added of 21 billion euros.
The area is “one of the busiest logistics areas in Europe”, handling 289 million tonnes of sea freight, 24 million tonnes of rail freight and 108,5 million tonnes of inland waterway freight every year. Sixty percent of Europe's purchasing power is within a radius of around 500 kilometers.
Photos
Port location and construction site of Plug Power. © Port of Antwerp / Tom Dhaenens
Photo middle
Jan Jambon, Prime Minister of Flemish; Jacques Vandermeiren, CEO Port of Antwerp-Bruges; Andy Marsh, CEO of Plug Power; George C. McNamee, Chairman of the Plug Power Board of Directors (left to right). © Port of Antwerp / Roger Dean
Class schedule
The port operator is still looking for investors and entrepreneurs (clicking on the graphic leads to further location information). © Port of Antwerp
