
Air Liquide's 200 MW electrolyzer project in the Netherlands enters the final selection round of European Innovation Fund
22/06/2021

ELYgator, Air Liquide’s 200 MW electrolyzer project, was selected to be part of the final selection round of the European Innovation Fund’s first call for innovative renewable energy and low-carbon large-scale project proposals. To be located in Terneuzen, this electrolyzer is meant to produce large quantities of renewable hydrogen, contributing to the decarbonization of the Dutch and neighbouring countries’ industry and mobility markets. ELYgator is a new step in Air Liquide’s roadmap towards carbon neutrality in 2050 and the overarching target of 3GW of electrolyser capacity by 2030.
Implemented in the industrial basin of Terneuzen, in the Netherlands, this project would be connected to Air Liquide’s cross-border pipeline networks. This would allow for an optimized combination of flexibility and efficiency, best leveraging the output of renewable power production and taking into account its intermittency and seasonality specifics. The renewable hydrogen produced would be certified and compliant with RED II (Renewable Energy Directive II). The ELYgator project would enable the avoidance of about 3,3 million tonnes of CO2 over the first ten years of the plant's operation, which is equivalent to the emissions of 3,6 million kilometers driven by truck.
Pioneering projects such as ELYgator are needed to achieve national and European climate ambitions, as it can play an important role in decarbonization, particularly for hard-to-abate sectors like industry and heavy mobility. To compete with current fossil-based production, governmental support and regulatory incentives such as an effective RED II implementation in both the Netherlands and Belgium will be crucial. Air Liquide will submit its final ELYgator application to the last round of the European Innovation Fund selection on June 23rd.
Frédéric Despréaux, Vice President Cluster Northern Europe and CIS Countries at Air Liquide, said: "A concretization of the ELYgator project would contribute to the Dutch-Flemish cluster’s ambitions towards carbon neutrality in 2050, whilst using renewable electricity to its full potential with an efficient integration of hydrogen electrolysers in the entire value chain. It is also in line with Air Liquide’s ambitious Climate Objectives, of which hydrogen will be a major driver. “
