Port of Antwerp-Bruges installs 0.5 MW AEM electrolyser

Power to Hydrogen (P2H2) has begun installing a 0.5-megawatt anion exchange

membrane (AEM) electrolyser at the Port of Antwerp-Bruges, with commissioning

scheduled for September.

The system is P2H2’s first commercial deployment of its M-Class hybrid AEM

technology and uses 250-kilowatt electrolyser stacks. According to the company,

it will be the first AEM installation using stacks of this size and is intended

to demonstrate renewable hydrogen production under operating conditions at an

industrial port.

The M-Class platform has been designed to scale to 25 megawatts for larger

industrial applications. P2H2 said the system can respond to changes in

renewable electricity supply in less than 50 milliseconds and operates under

pressure, reducing the need for downstream compression.

The company also said its AEM technology uses materials including steel and

nickel instead of the more expensive precious metals found in proton exchange

membrane (PEM) electrolysers. P2H2 claims this approach can reduce capital

expenditure by up to 65 per cent compared with equivalent PEM systems.

Rob Smeets, CEO of Port of Antwerp-Bruges, said: “Port of Antwerp-Bruges is

a hub where ambition and action come together. By welcoming Power to Hydrogen’s

commercial-scale AEM electrolyzer, we take another concrete step in supporting

the demonstration of scalable, flexible technologies in Europe that are needed

in Europe’s energy transition. It’s through these partnerships that we

accelerate the shift toward a resilient, strong European future.”

Following commissioning, the installation is expected to provide a

configuration that can be replicated for future multi-megawatt projects and

allow the technology to undergo third-party validation.

The hydrogen produced will target demand from mobility and industrial users

in the region. Holthausen, a supplier of industrial gases and hydrogen-powered

trucks, will be the main offtaker when operations begin, while the system has

been designed to serve additional customers over time.

P2H2 expects the project to generate commercial revenue during its first

year of operation.

The deployment follows P2H2’s selection as the winner of the Free Electrons

innovation programme in 2022. The programme required a commercial demonstration

under real operating conditions, which provided a route for the project to be

developed at the port’s NextGen District.

Paul Matter, CEO of Power to Hydrogen, said: “Bringing our system to the

Port of Antwerp-Bruges is a tangible step toward financeable deployment: it

proves we can build and ship industry-ready hardware, integrate into a live

site, and commission a megawatt-class AEM platform designed for renewable

load-following.”