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Bekaert opens hydrogen project Rozenburg

On Tuesday 25 June, residents of an existent apartment block in Rozenburg (NL) were the first in the Netherlands to receive heat from boilers that run on pure hydrogen. This pilot project is the result of a consortium containing 7 key players from the heating industry, each with its own expertise; Bekaert Heating, Remeha, DNV GL, Municipality of Rotterdam, Housing association Ressort Wonen and system operator Stedin. Bekaert contributes to this project by supplying key technology for hydrogen combustion in a boiler system.  

In October last year, Bekaert already announced to have realized a hydrogen burner suitable for domestic heating. This groundbreaking technology is one of the essentials going forward in the energy transition from natural gas to hydrogen and responds to the trend towards CO2-free heating systems.

To secure the hydrogen supply a dedicated power station has been installed nearby. It contains multiple electrolyzers for the transition of electricity into hydrogen, followed by a pipe network for the supply of hydrogen from the power station to the boiler room in the basement of the apartment block.

“The first field test results of the Bekaert hydrogen burner look promising, ”says Dirk ten Hoeve, Global R&D manager Combustion Technology at Bekaert. "Our pre-mix hydrogen burner also works well under practical conditions and the performance in terms of comfort and safety is quite similar to a conventional natural gas burner and more importantly, this burner does not emit any CO2 at all". The hydrogen burner will be further tested in Rozenburg in the coming months.