This ‘Hydrotug’ is one of a kind, powered by combustion engines running on hydrogen in combination with diesel. The construction is the result of a collaboration with Compagnie Maritime Belge (CMB), a pioneer in the use of hydrogen in shipping. Here, Port of Antwerp has taken an important step in the transition towards a sustainable and CO2-neutral port.

ENGIE, Fluxys, Indaver, INOVYN, Oiltanking, Port of Antwerp and the PMV – investment company of the Flemish Government - have established a consortium for the sustainable production of methanol, an essential raw material used by industry in the Port. Construction of a demonstration plant at the INOVYN site in Antwerp is scheduled to start by 2022, with the aim of producing 8000 tonnes of sustainable methanol annually, thus avoiding at least an equivalent volume of CO2 emissions.

The aim of the project is to build a heat distribution network to replace the natural gas-fired energy supplies for several large chemical companies. The heat in the form of steam will be produced by the waste-to-energy facilities operated by the INDAVER waste processing company and its joint venture SLECO, while the steam distribution network will be built by Infrax.

Port of Antwerp houses the largest wind farm on the Belgian mainland. There are 80 wind turbines in total in the port area This wind farm has a capacity of over 200 megawatts , enough to supply electricity to 140.000 households.

The cleantech division of Compagnie Maritime Belge (CMB) has opened the world’s first multimodal hydrogen refuelling station in 2021. The development will also enable Hydroville, the world’s first hydrogen-powered passenger ship, will be able to refuel at the station instead of using a tube trailer.

The Port of Antwerp (PoA) is committed to innovation as a key enabler for creating new business value and a future-proof port. The Hydropower project is a good example on how PoA adopts its mission in reality. The project consisted of testing a prototype model of a 3 bladed vertical axe waterturbine mounted in existing infrastructure of the lock at the left bank of the port.

We depart from Le Plaza hotel, Brussels at 11:30 AM by a bus and arrive in the Antwerp Port House at 12:30.

Presentation and Light Lunch in Foyer of the Port House.

Port tour by coach with site visits to CMB (Compagnie Maritime Belge), the first multimodal hydrogen refuelling station in the world and ADPO (Antwerp Distributions and Products Operations) where Europe’s first concentrated solar thermal plant was installed.
The port tour will take you from right to left bank, along the way you will learn about multiple innovations and initiatives helping to make the port greener.

After the tour, we return to Brussels with the expected arrival time of 17:30.