A half-megawatt system uses 250-kilowatt stacks for efficient hydrogen production at scale; the installation is already underway and commissioning will be in September
Power to Hydrogen (P2H2), developer of anion exchange membrane (AEM) electrolyzer systems, announced today that it has delivered and begun the installation of a unique half-megawatt AEM electrolyzer at the Port of Antwerp-Bruges, in Belgium. The project is the first in the world to use 250-kilowatt AEM electrolyzer stacks and, once commissioned, will be the first AEM system to demonstrate renewable hydrogen production in a high-performance industrial port environment and under real operating conditions. The milestone marks a significant advance in the supply of cost-competitive hydrogen at scale and paves the way for its public launch, scheduled for September.
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The system at the Port of Antwerp-Bruges is the first commercial deployment of Power to Hydrogen's Class M hybrid AEM electrolyzers, designed to scale up to 25 megawatts in high-demand industrial environments. Built on 250-kilowatt industrial stack modules, the system is designed for dynamic and efficient operation, with a response of less than 50 milliseconds for renewable load tracking and pressurized operation that reduces downstream compression needs and simplifies plant balance. The technology replaces the costly precious metals of PEM electrolyzers with low-cost materials such as steel and nickel. By combining performance with a lower-cost materials pathway, the company's AEM systems can reduce CAPEX costs by up to 65% compared to comparable PEM electrolyzers.
"The Port of Antwerp-Bruges is a hub where ambition and action meet," stated Rob Smeets, CEO of the Port of Antwerp-Bruges. "By hosting Power to Hydrogen's commercial-scale AEM electrolyzer, we take another concrete step in supporting the demonstration of scalable and flexible technologies in Europe that are necessary for the energy transition in Europe. It is through these partnerships that we accelerate the shift towards a resilient and strong European future," he concluded.
Once in service, the project will establish a repeatable and installable configuration and third-party validation to reduce risk and accelerate future deployments of several megawatts.
"Renewable hydrogen is moving from pilot projects to infrastructure, and the winners will be the companies capable of manufacturing, delivering, and operating at industrial scale," said Paul Matter, CEO of Power to Hydrogen. "Taking our system to the Port of Antwerp-Bruges is a concrete step towards a financeable deployment: it demonstrates that we can build and deliver industry-ready hardware, integrate it into an active site, and commission a megawatt-class AEM platform designed for renewable load tracking. This project is the blueprint for scaling deployments across Europe and allows the European industry to produce hydrogen as a raw material nationally, from its own renewable energy, instead of importing it," he concluded.
The project will support commercial demand for hydrogen in the region, both in mobility and industrial applications. It is expected to generate commercial revenues from its first year of operation. The main off-taker at launch is Holthausen, a regional supplier of industrial gases and hydrogen-powered trucks, and the system is designed to serve additional customers over time.
Beyond decarbonization, on-site electrolysis enables greater industrial resilience and energy sovereignty at the national and regional level. By converting local renewable electricity and water into hydrogen at the point of use, the technology allows ports and industrial clusters to produce a critical raw material nationally, reducing their exposure to supply chain risk and the price volatility of imported natural gas, which still underpins most of the hydrogen used today in the European industry. For customers in fuels, chemicals, and mobility in Antwerp, that means a locally produced renewable raw material, generated where it is consumed instead of being transported.
The project of the Port of Antwerp-Bruges is based on the selection of Power to Hydrogen as the winner in 2022 of Free Electrons, a global innovation program sponsored by utility companies. The success criteria of Free Electrons required a commercial demonstration under real operating conditions, which paved the way for the project towards the NextGen District of the Port of Antwerp-Bruges. The program is sponsored by utility companies such as American Electric Power (AEP), EDP, E.ON, ESB, Origin Energy, and CLP, several of which are now investors in Power to Hydrogen.
"Utility companies invest in technologies when there is a credible path to field performance and repeatable deployments," stated Daniel Joisten, Head of Technology Scouting and Innovation at E.ON Energy Infrastructure Solutions. "This project at the Port of Antwerp-Bruges is an important step to demonstrate flexible AEM electrolysis with renewable load-following at commercial scale, and to build confidence that these systems can be deployed widely," he concluded.