Renewable energies and green hydrogen: an exceptional balance sheet for the first half of 2021

In the first six months of 2021, John Cockerill’s renewable energy and hydrogen turnover has more than doubled. The Group’s new orders reached more than €50 million.
As the world leader in electrolyser sales in 2020, the Group’s electrolyser sales continued to grow in the first half of the year with the sale of 36 electrolysers and the Group’s participation in a number of large-scale projects.  The Group continued to develop its 100% European electrolyser and hydrogen equipment production chain, which is confirmed to be operational by 2023.
John Cockerill also accelerated the roll-out of various renewable energy solutions in Europe and around the world, in particular with the installation of new concentrated solar power plants.

Seraing, 27 July 2021 – The John Cockerill Group today unveiled a positive balance sheet for its activities in the renewable energy and green hydrogen sectors in the first half of 2021. The company announced a doubling of its turnover in these activities as well as new orders now totalling more than €50 million.

“The main challenge of our century is to succeed in the field of energy transition . This is why we decided several years ago to accelerate the development of our renewable energy and green hydrogen offer. Today, we can see that this ambitious strategy is bearing fruit, as this morning we are unveiling exceptional results that confirm our leadership and validate our ambitions”, said Jean-Luc Maurange, CEO of John Cockerill.

Green hydrogen

John Cockerill establishes itself as the world leader in the sale of electrolysers 

 John Cockerill was the world leader in the electrolyser market in 2020 with a 20% market share In the first half of 2021, John Cockerill recorded exceptional sales totalling .95 megawatts (MW). Indeed, the European Group sold 36 electrolysers, 16 of which were large capacity (5 MW).

In the process, the European group achieved a total of €16 million in orders , an increase of 83 % compared to the first half of 2020. The Group’s hydrogen turnover for the period amounted to €13 million.

In recent months, John Cockerill has also confirmed its participation in large-scale projects such as:

• The HaYrport project with Liège Airport (Belgium), which aims to implement a green hydrogen production and distribution infrastructure within the airport to power hydrogen vehicles (buses, trucks and light vehicles);
• The Columbus project , in partnership with Engie and Carmeuse, which aims to reduce CO₂ emissions from lime production by converting them into e-methane using green hydrogen;
• Further announcements on green mobility with various public partners are also expected in the coming months.

The Group also participated in the creation of the Hyve consortium , which brings together the IMEC and VITO research centres, as well as the industrialists Bekaert, Colruyt Group and DEME, with a view to investing in a research programme.

A 100% European production line for electrolysers and hydrogen equipment operational from 2023.

Over the last few months, the John Cockerill Group has taken further steps in the development of its 100% European electrolyser and hydrogen equipment production chain. The resulting products will be the result of research and development (R&D) projects carried out in Europe and will be manufactured with the help of numerous European subcontractors. 

In this context, John Cockerill has confirmed its intention to set up a gigafactory for green hydrogen production equipment in Alsace, on its Aspach-Michelbach site. This site will complete the Group’s production chain, which will also be supported by the Seraing site in Belgium and a Hungarian site. In recent weeks, all the permits required for the transformation of the Aspach site and its operation have been submitted. The Group has also requested the support of France, Belgium and Europe through its application to the funding programme reserved for Important Projects of Common European Interest (PIIEC or IPCEI) dedicated to hydrogen. Work will be carried out over the next few months so that the site can be operational by 2023. 

Renewable energy

John Cockerill confirms its leadership in the production of renewable energy solutions 

In conjunction with these outstanding half-year results, John Cockerill has continued to develop its renewable energy solutions and has announced its selection for a number of cutting-edge projects:

• The Redstone project in South Africa, which aims to implement a new concentrated solar power plant with ACWA Power. With a capacity of 100 MW, it will supply the equivalent of 200,000 households with 24-hour base-load carbon-free electricity and save around 440,000 tonnes of CO₂ emissions per year. With three other comparable projects in the commissioning phase – Haixi (China), Cerro Dominador (Chile) and Dewa (United Arab Emirates) – John Cockerill’s Redstone project reinforces its leadership position in this market.
• A project in partnership with the waste recovery company RENEWI to convert the fleet of trucks used for waste collection in the Liège region to green. John Cockerill continues to develop integrated renewable energy solutions by offering decarbonised solutions to cover its customers’ electricity, heating, cooling and mobility needs.
• The development of small modular reactors (SMR) using molten salts in collaboration with Engie Laborelec and the CRM Group for the Canadian company Terrestrial Energy. In this way, John Cockerill is diversifying its product range by developing other technologies with low greenhouse gas emissions .

“We are delighted with these excellent results. Whether in Europe, Asia or elsewhere, our customers choose John Cockerill for its technological excellence and the competitiveness of its solutions. We are convinced that the synergies between hydrogen and renewable energies that we already offer will enable us to support the energy transition of even more companies,” said Raphaël Tilot, head of the Group’s Renewables and Hydrogen activities.

John Cockerill in energy

John Cockerill is a global player in the field of energy transition. With more than 200 years of experience in energy and industry, it is now developing innovative technological solutions that contribute to the decarbonisation of human activities, whether it is a question of developing new electricity production capacity from renewable energies, storing green electricity or optimising the energy efficiency of existing power stations and industrial equipment. It adapts its technologies and expertise – heat recovery boilers for combined gas-steam cycle power plants, green hydrogen production, storage and distribution units, receivers for concentrated solar thermal power plants, integrated green electricity production, storage and management units, industrial boilers, maintenance of wind turbines and hydroelectric installations, nuclear valves, industrial process automation – to the specific needs of its energy and industrial customers. John Cockerill is thus making its technological contribution to the fight against climate change.