Dutch‑Belgian hydrogen link

Gasunie’s Dutch hydrogen unit and Belgium’s Fluxys hydrogen signed a joint development agreement on April 9 to build a cross-border pipeline link by around 2030. (gasunie.nl) The companies said the connection will be bidirectional, letting hydrogen move both ways between the Netherlands and Belgium, and they plan to reuse existing natural gas pipes where possible. (fluxys.com) The proposed border link sits between Belgium’s Antwerp province and the Dutch province of Zeeland, near industrial corridors already tied to North Sea Port, the Port of Rotterdam, and the ports of Antwerp and Ghent. (h2-view.com) Hydrogen pipelines are being pitched as a way to move fuel for refineries, chemical plants and heavy industry that cannot easily switch to direct electrification. The European Commission’s hydrogen framework sets 2030 targets for renewable hydrogen use in industry and transport. (energy.ec.europa.eu) The Dutch-Belgian link fits a wider European push to stitch national networks into a tradable market, with transmission operators planning a backbone that relies heavily on converted gas pipelines instead of entirely new routes. (ehb.eu) Gasunie has already laid the first 32 kilometers of the Dutch national hydrogen network in the Rotterdam port area, a starter segment it says is meant to connect later with Belgium and Germany. (gasunie.nl) Belgium is building its own phased hydrogen grid, with Fluxys planning lines that connect industrial clusters around Antwerp-Bruges, North Sea Port, Hainaut and Liège, and cross-border links with neighboring countries. (ipcei.observatory.clean-hydrogen.europa.eu) The agreement does not by itself guarantee hydrogen supply or demand. It sets the technical and organizational groundwork for a border connection that the companies say is needed if northwestern Europe wants one market instead of separate national systems. (fluxys.com)