In a significant development this week, NextGen Demo, an innovation hub within the NextGen District situated at the core of the Antwerp port, welcomed its inaugural concessionaires. Power to Hydrogen and TripleW have opted to leverage the port’s environment for piloting their groundbreaking initiatives in energy transition and circularity. Aligned closely with the ambitious goals of Port of Antwerp-Bruges, the demo projects from both entities promise to play a pivotal role in advancing towards a climate-neutral society.
Spanning across an area of 88 hectares, Port of Antwerp-Bruges has earmarked the NextGen District to emerge as a hub for circular economy endeavors. Within this expansive cluster, NextGen Demo carves out a zone of approximately 2 hectares, offering a platform for start-ups, scale-ups, spin-off companies, and pilot projects to trial new technologies and circular demo projects in an industrial setting before commercialization. Positioned as an innovation catalyst, NextGen Demo aims to foster sustainable innovations primarily in feedstock raw material and energy transition, making it an ideal fit for the pioneering efforts of the first two signatories.
Power to Hydrogen is set to propel the shift towards a green hydrogen economy through the deployment of AEM (anion exchange membrane) electrolysis technology, with the largest-ever AEM electrolysis stack slated for installation in the fourth quarter of 2024. Backed by leading global utility players within the Free Electrons utility innovation program, this endeavor holds the promise of significantly reducing green hydrogen production costs using renewable energy sources. On the other hand, TripleW, a seasoned foreign investor in Belgium, is geared up to demonstrate the industrial-scale production of lactic acid from food waste, a breakthrough process that holds implications for biodegradable plastics and biochemicals. With a lineup of global pioneers like Plug, Bolder Industries, PureCycle, and Ekopak joining the NextGen District fray, synergies between NextGen Demo, NextGen District, and other port entities are poised to drive substantial progress towards sustainability goals.