Dutch Clean Tech Innovation Driving Europe's Green Energy Transition

Clean tech companies are at the forefront of Europe's mission to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. A Dutch firm, supported by European Union funding, has created an innovative green energy solution aimed at helping reach this goal.

Energy is essential to our daily lives, but its production and consumption account for 75% of the EU's greenhouse gas emissions. A clean tech company based in Rotterdam, backed by an EU investment program, is striving to reduce dependence on fossil fuels with a breakthrough technology called the Battolyser®. This device functions both as an electrolyser and a battery, storing renewable energy and producing green hydrogen.

Developed at a Dutch university, the Battolyser® is powered by renewable sources like wind and solar energy. Once its battery is fully charged, the stored energy can be used to generate hydrogen. The system can be switched on and off instantly, allowing it to adapt to fluctuations in energy supply.

Optimal Energy Generation

Maarten van Heel, Director of Projects and Engineering at Battolyser Systems, elaborates on the technology's potential for green energy production: "Sixty percent of the costs associated with green hydrogen come from electricity," he explains. "The Battolyser® can produce hydrogen when electricity prices are low and pause production when prices are high. This capability, unique among current technologies, also allows it to supply electricity back to the grid, providing an additional revenue stream for our customers."

Mattijs Slee, CEO of Battolyser Systems, emphasizes the urgency and affordability of the energy transition: "The energy transition needs to progress rapidly to combat climate change, and it must also be cost-effective. We believe we can achieve both."

Last year, the first industrial-scale Battolyser® was installed at a Dutch power plant for field testing. The hydrogen produced is currently used to cool gas turbine bearings. With production facilities scaling up, the technology is moving towards commercial deployment. Industries ranging from oil refineries to mobility companies are potential customers, according to Slee: "The energy transition needs to basically go fast because that is important for the climate change, and it needs to be affordable, and I think we can do both."

Company-Led Transition

The company plans to establish its first large-scale factory at the Port of Rotterdam, a development welcomed by Boudewijn Siemons, CEO of the Port of Rotterdam Authority: "We need existing companies to lead the transition and new companies to fill the gaps," he says. "In the future, the energy system will be decentralized. We'll need both batteries and hydrogen production, and the Battolyser®'s ability to combine these functions is a groundbreaking innovation in this emerging market."

A €40 million financing deal has been secured with the European Investment Bank to scale up production, supported by a guarantee from the InvestEU Fund and an additional €2 million from the EU’s Just Transition Fund. It is anticipated that this Netherlands-developed technology will begin broader deployment later this year.

Article source: https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2024/06/24/dutch-clean-tech-innovation-powering-europes-green-energy-transition

Photo attribution: Melanie Maecker-Tursun creator QS:P170,Q93716194, Logo Renewable Energy by Melanie Maecker-Tursun V1 bgGreen, CC BY-SA 4.0