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The chemical and pharmaceutical company Solvay is to invest five million Euros in a trial fuel cell, which will convert excess hydrogen in the company’s Antwerp factory Solvin into electricity. The fuel cell has a one megawatt (MW) capacity and is the largest in the world. Solvay is receiving a 1.5 million Euro subsidy for the project from WaterstofNet, an organisation that has over 14 million Euros for supporting hydrogen projects in Flanders and the southern Netherlands. WaterstofNet is financed by Flanders, the southern Dutch provinces, Europe and the industrial sector. It was officially launched yesterday, and constitutes a part of the European project focusing on hydrogen, for which authorities have created a budget of EUR 470 million in the next few years. The trial fuel cell at Solvin is one of the first projects in the scheme. The fuel cell will improve yield realised in the electrolysis process at Solvin in Lillo. The company Solvin is a joint venture of Solvay (which controls 75 percent) and BASF (with 25 percent) and manufactures PVC using electrolysis. The process releases hydrogen, which is converted into electricity through the fuel cell. The cell itself consists of polymer membranes and platinum electrodes. The components are manufactured by SolviCore in Germany, which is in turn a 50/50 joint venture by Solvay and the metals technology company Umicore. The fuel cell will be assembled by the Dutch company Nedstack.

Source: Flanders Today