Fluxys appointed Belgium's 'hydrogen network operator'

It appears to be the first time any single company has been granted a specific regulatory role of “network operator” for hydrogen since the EU passed its rules governing H₂ pipelines.

Belgium-based Fluxys Hydrogen was given the role for 20 years under the auspices of Belgium’s Federal Hydrogen Act, passed in July 2023.

However, this legislation was based on a draft version of the EU’s Hydrogen and Gas Decarbonisation Package, which did not pass through the European Parliament until earlier this month (and has still not formally become law) — with the Belgians hoping to get a step ahead on hydrogen regulation and kickstart the development of a regional H₂ network.

Fluxys’ hydrogen subsidiary – which under the upcoming EU “horizontal unbundling” laws in the gas package will have to be spun out completely from its gas parent company – is now tasked with developing a hydrogen network in Belgium, with the aim of creating a regional network alongside neighbouring countries such as the Netherlands as part of the proposed European Hydrogen Backbone.

Tariffs on the hydrogen network will be governed by the national regulator, while Fluxys Hydrogen will also need to ensure that third-party access to the pipes is guaranteed.

The programme is being supported financially by EU Covid recovery funds, and Fluxys has already carried out a market consultation to map demand.

“Studies and preparations are being made to lay the first pipelines in the industrial clusters that have clearly expressed the need for hydrogen,” Fluxys said in a statement.

Pascal De Buck, Chief Executive of Fluxys, added: “Fluxys Hydrogen’s initial aim is to provide maximum support to industry to achieve decarbonisation by bringing low-carbon molecules to them as part of the “European Hydrogen Backbone”. In the energy mix of the future, low-carbon molecules are crucial for a carbon-neutral future in Belgium and northwestern Europe."

However, the pipelines could also end up playing an important role in the import of green molecules to Europe as part of the H₂Global programme, in which the German government has pledged €5 billion (US$5.35 billion) to subsidise imports of green H₂ and its derivatives from international producers – with other EU countries such as the Netherlands keen to join the initiative.

The first €900 million H₂Global subsidy auctions took place in 2022, with the winners expected to be announced imminently. Belgian and Dutch ports such as Antwerp and Rotterdam could take delivery of significant volumes of hydrogen and its derivatives later this decade, at which point the molecules would need to be transported to customers, either by pipeline or road.

Dutch gas pipeline operator Gasunie has been tasked with building out the Netherlands’ national hydrogen network, however as the EU rules have not yet become law it is unclear whether the company has yet been appointed as an official “hydrogen network operator”.

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