Belgium's Colruyt Group has announced the opening of its first public hydrogen filling station in Halle, near Brussels.
As well as conventional and green fuels, the fuel station now offers 100% green hydrogen produced from renewable electricity.
In 2019, the retailer plans to open its second hydrogen filling station in Wilrijk.
Investment In Green Fuel
Since 2004, the retailer has invested €6 million in innovative hydrogen projects. These include green hydrogen production in its Dassenveld site, and hydrogen applications for heavy transport in France and Belgium.
CEO of Colruyt Group, Jef Colruyt, said, “Over the next five years, Colruyt Group intends to invest an extra €35 million in the hydrogen economy, including four new hydrogen filling stations.”
Minister-President of Flanders, Geert Bourgeois, supported the initiative and said, “Flanders has ambitious goals for making the switch to sustainable energy and clean mobility. By 2020, we want twenty hydrogen filling stations. I have good hope that we will succeed.”
It has also partnered with Fluxys and Parkwind to work on a power-to-gas installation, which will convert green electricity into green hydrogen on an industrial scale. It will act as a buffer for fluctuations in offshore wind energy.
Sustainable Energy
The retailer has also called on other companies to opt for hydrogen-based energy emphasising on its role in making mobility and energy supplies more sustainable.
Colruyt Group has been investing in hydrogen-based energy solutions since 2004, and the filling station is an important step in bringing hydrogen-based fuel closer to the consumer.
European climate expert, Jos Delbeke, has expressed support for the initiative.
“The climate goals established by Europe in the Paris Agreement will intensify the fundamental changes already affecting the energy sector today.
"New technologies are marketed sooner than expected, and hydrogen is one of them. That’s why this initiative by Colruyt Group is particularly commendable,” Delbeke said.
As a source of energy, hydrogen offers many advantages. Raw materials required to produce the energy - water and electricity - are sustainable. The fuel can be produced using renewable energy, making the entire production process completely green.
Additionally, emissions from hydrogen-fuelled vehicles do not contain any harmful substances.
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Dayeeta Das. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
