Date article: 15 April 2022

Bekaert (eco2fuel-project.eu)

 

The project will support the acceleration of renewable hydrogen deployment by enabling the manufacturing of up to 39 GW of PEM and AEM electrolyser capacity over its first ten years of operation. The project is expected to achieve up to 100% relative greenhouse gas (GHG) emission avoidance compared to the reference scenario.

GRAND PIANO innovates in both product and manufacturing processes. It will achieve this through three novel solutions:

  1. An automated production line on the GW scale of PEM PTL,
  2. Commercial production of AEM PTL and 
  3. Commercial production of Alternating Catalyst Layer Structure MEA (ACLS MEA) for PEM. 

GRAND PIANO will support Europe’s climate neutrality objectives for 2050, the Net-Zero Industry Act’s aim of enhancing European manufacturing capacity and promoting industrial competitiveness, and the goals of the Critical Raw Materials Act to increase resilience and reduce dependencies on certain materials.

  • An automated production line on the GW scale of PEM PTL,
  • Commercial production of AEM PTL and 
  • Commercial production of Alternating Catalyst Layer Structure MEA (ACLS MEA) for PEM. 

 

Thanks to these combined improvements, the project can achieve notable savings on critical raw materials such as platinum and iridium. Industrial-scale production of components (PTL) and subassemblies (MEA) will reduce costs, encourage more electrolyser installations and facilitate the transition to hydrogen-based solutions. The project is expected to avoid up to 11.7 million tonnes CO2e over its first ten years of operation.

GRAND PIANO will support Europe’s climate neutrality objectives for 2050, the Net-Zero Industry Act’s aim of enhancing European manufacturing capacity and promoting industrial competitiveness, and the goals of the Critical Raw Materials Act to increase resilience and reduce dependencies on certain materials.

Located in Belgium, GRAND PIANO will engage local suppliers and stimulate economic growth and foster job opportunities. By producing cost-competitive electrolysers that are more resilient to supply chain distruptions, our project could also attract new businesses and investments in the region.

What is the Eco2Fuel project?

 

The Eco2Fuel project is a European initiative aimed at creating the world’s first 1MW low-temperature electrochemical CO2 conversion system. This system is designed to produce economical and sustainable e-fuels and chemicals from CO2, water, and renewable electricity under industrially relevant conditions.

Partners

In ECO2Fuel, 15 international partners from the chemical, energy, hydrogen, mechanical engineering and automotive industry, and several research institutions set out to contribute to this goal by building the worldwide first CO2 conversion system to convert 742 tons of CO2 per year into economic and sustainable liquid e-fuels and chemicals.

Main tasks of Bekaert in the Eco2Fuel project

  • Within Eco2Fuel, Bekaert will produce sintered copper and nickel fiber structures using its R&D infrastructure at Zwevegem, Belgium as basis for the electrodes and MEA.
  • Optimal porous fiber structures will be developed starting from existing products towards optimal gas diffusion efficiency and ease of catalyst coating application.
  • These will then also be further processed in catalyst coating and MEA integration.
  • These structures will be provided in sheet format, but Bekaert will also optimize the process for providing fiber structures on rolls to facilitate coating application process.
  • During the course of the project, Bekaert will supply sufficient materials for construction of demonstrator electrolysers.

What is the future of the Eco2Fuel project?

 

The Eco2Fuel project aims to set new standards for the industry by replacing fossil carbon in fuels and chemicals with recycled carbon from CO2. Our goal is to remove emissions from many essential items and to prevent further CO2 emissions, thereby contributing significantly to a more sustainable and carbon-neutral future.