Strategic deployment of hydrogen and CCS: Ortelius’ view on Flanders’ energy intensive industrial transition

 

A recent VUB study confirms the difficult position of Flanders’ strong energy-intensive industry. This industry is the backbone of our economy, creating jobs, exports, added value and enables economic ecosystems. But it is now under intense competitive pressure while also being required to decarbonize. Hydrogen and CCS emerge as central themes. Ortelius’ “Industrievisie” builds on this by showing how these tools should be deployed strategically.

 

Hydrogen: essential, but not everywhere and not at any time

Hydrogen is often presented as a silver bullet, but its role is more nuanced. Direct electrification typically requires less energy, and with grid capacity already under strain, it should remain the first option wherever possible. For households, cars, and other easily electrified sectors, hydrogen typically does not make sense.

In energy-intensive industry, however, hydrogen will be crucial. Processes in steelmaking, chemicals, and refining cannot be fully electrified. Here, hydrogen can provide high-temperature heat and serve as a feedstock. Still, today hydrogen is far from competitive - especially green hydrogen from renewable electricity, which is scarce and expensive. A phased approach is therefore needed:

• Blue hydrogen: produced from natural gas with CCS as a transitional, cost competitive, option that can be deployed sooner and at lower cost.
• Green hydrogen: as a long-term solution once sufficient renewable capacity is available to support large-scale production.

Ports will play a central role in orchestrating this rollout, scaling hydrogen infrastructure in line with actual demand and technological readiness.

Carbon Capture: the urgent backbone

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is not a general-purpose solution, but for large point sources it is indispensable. Cement, steel, and chemicals emit process CO₂ that face alternatives that simply are not cost competitive… yet. For these sectors, CCS is the only short-term affordable pathway.

Flanders holds a structural advantage here. Industrial clusters are dense, located around Antwerp and Ghent, with direct access to the North Sea - one of Europe’s prime storage regions. This geographic concentration makes shared infrastructure viable and economically feasible. That is why Ortelius identifies CO₂ infrastructure as a core priority for Belgium. Without it, the Flemish industrial transition cannot get off the ground.

The bigger picture: bridging ideal and real

The decarbonization debate often focuses on ideal end-state solutions. But there is a gap between what is “ideal” on paper and what is feasible, competitive, and mature in practice. The goal is not technological purity, but greenhouse gas reduction at scale. Energy-intensive industry offers exactly that leverage: decarbonizing a single plant can cut millions of tonnes of CO₂.

Both the VUB study and the Ortelius Industrievisie emphasize this message: Flanders must act strategically. That means sequencing technologies, investing in the backbone infrastructure, and prioritizing interventions where they deliver the greatest impact.

 

 

Ortelius stands ready to help translate this vision into action — by guiding policymakers and industry through the difficult choices, building alliances, and ensuring investments go where they matter most. The time to act is now: to safeguard Flanders’ industrial backbone and secure its role in a climate-neutral future.