With the support of the European Innovation Fund, these innovative projects can make a crucial contribution to the greening of industry in Belgium and the Netherlands. For many companies, this transition is a major challenge, partly due to the high costs, strict regulations and complexity of new technologies. This European subsidy supports sustainable innovation on an industrial scale and makes the necessary investments in green technology more feasible.

ZestA – ArcelorMittal (Belgium) 
ArcelorMittal is considering a project to build two electric furnaces and a DRI (Direct Reduced Iron) installation. This technology can eventually work with hydrogen instead of coal, which can drastically reduce CO₂ emissions.

H2BE – Engie and Equinor (Belgium) 
Engie and Equinor want to produce hydrogen on a large scale in Ghent. With a gigahydrogen plant, running on Norwegian natural gas, CO₂ is captured and sent to Norway for storage in the seabed.

The European Innovation Fund offers support to large-scale green projects that can contribute to the climate goals of 2030. With a total subsidy pot of 4.8 billion euros, financed by the European Emissions Trading System, the fund is an important pillar in supporting innovative, CO₂-reducing initiatives. Support from the Innovation Fund can amount to hundreds of millions of euros for large projects. These funds are crucial for the Scheldt Delta region: they lower the threshold for large-scale investments and bring the ambition of a climate-neutral industry in 2050 closer.

Other mega projects from SDR members have also been selected previously:

EnergHys – TotalEnergies, Zeeland Refinery (Netherlands)  
With this project, TotalEnergies focuses on the production of green hydrogen with a 300 MW electrolysis plant in Vlissingen, powered by offshore wind energy.

Elygator – Air Liquide (Netherlands) 
With this large hydrogen project, Air Liquide aims to produce renewable hydrogen in Terneuzen with a 200 MW electrolyser. By combining two electrolysis technologies (PEM and alkaline), the system can flexibly respond to variations in renewable energy production and at the same time helps to improve the stability of the electricity grid.

For more information on all selected projects of the Innovation Fund, see Innovation Fund projects - European Commission