FDE announced the selection by the Walloon government of the HECO2-PLASMALYSE HYBRIDE consortium to promote the use of carbon-free hydrogen in the region's energy mix by 2050. This consortium is made up of several leading Belgian and international industrial and research players: FDE’ subsidiary in Belgium named Gazonor Benelux, AGC Glass Europe, GATE2, EDF Luminus, Vanheede Environment Group, the Polytechnic University of Mons (UMONS) and the Materia Nova research center. HECO2 is a project that aims to build a clean hydrogen production pilot by Hybrid Plasmalysis.

This patented technology consists of transforming different sources of methane into clean hydrogen and solid and renewable carbon forms (black carbon, graphite, graphene) without emitting CO2 into the atmosphere. The final objective is the construction of a plant of 15,000 tons of hydrogen and 45,000 tons of carbon materials at the end of the project, with particular focus to the reduction of direct CO2 emissions from the plant. This project will also confirm the possibilities of using different local methane sources in Wallonia (Biomethane, mine gas, etc.) and qualify certain qualities of solid carbon produced by this process.

This project is perfectly in line with the Group's broader development strategy in the H2 ecosystem of the Greater Region(Grand Est, Wallonia, Luxembourg, Saarland and Rhineland-Palatinate) focused on providing local energy production ecologically and economically competitive to the inhabitants, industrialists and communities of these areas. With these new projects, FDE once again demonstrates the Group's positioning as a leading player in the circular economy of the territories to further reduce their carbon footprint and resilience.