With the Columbus project Carmeuse, ENGIE and John Cockerill have joined forces to reduce industrial CO2 emissions in Wallonia.
In order to make the transition away from fossil fuels and develop the hydrogen economy, Europe and Belgium have foreseen different support mechanisms. ENGIE and Carmeuse regularly propose projects to be supported by such mechanisms, in order to enable the investment. It’s in this framework that ENGIE and Carmeuse now have received support under the form of IPCEI for the Columbus project. IPCEI is the abbreviation of ’Important Project of Common European Interest’ and is meant to bridge the funding gap for projects that the private sector alone cannot finance such as investments in hydrogen technology. The support from IPCEI recognizes the added value and quality of the Columbus project and means an important step forward for taking on the remaining challenges such as the search for further investment funding, green power sourcing, permitting and finding off takers for the e-methane.
