- Battolyser Systems and VDL Hydrogen Systems have merged, continuing their activities
under the name Alquion and outsourcing assembly to VDL Groep. - Alquion develops the Flexolyser®, a fully flexible and high-capacity alkaline electrolyser
designed to integrate large-scale renewable energy sources into the energy system. - The merger was announced in July 2025 and has now been formalized. Alquion will
continue as an independent cleantech scale-up to bring the Flexolyser to market.
The Netherlands, February 26, 2026.
The only two developers of alkaline electrolysers for industrial applications in the Netherlands, Battolyser Systems and VDL Hydrogen Systems, have merged to form a new company called Alquion. All activities and employees have been combined to bring Flexolyser, the first fully flexible electrolyser for industrial applications, to market. Alquion develops and sells the Flexolyser in collaboration with VDL Groep, which is responsible for the industrialization and assembly of the stack (the heart of the electrolyser where water is split into hydrogen and oxygen).
Electrolysers for industrial applications currently on the market cannot be easily switched on and off and require a minimum production output of 20-40% to operate safely and without degradation. The Flexolyser can be switched on and off easily, safely and without loss of performance. This offers a huge advantage for the integration of renewable energy sources, such as offshore wind, into our energy system. When wind conditions are strong, a Flexolyser can convert excess electricity into hydrogen and inject it into the pipeline network. When wind conditions are low, a Flexolyser can be switched off, supplying customers with stored or imported hydrogen. In this way, the Flexolyser can reduce the production costs of green hydrogen by up to 25% without additional network congestion, making the price of locally produced hydrogen competitive with imported hydrogen.
"The cost of green hydrogen is currently still too high. Innovation and scaling up are needed to accelerate the hydrogen economy. With this merger, we are bringing innovation and industrialization together in the Flexolyser, allowing us to better serve our customers in industries such as chemicals, e-fuels, steel, and network applications,"
says CEO Mattijs Slee of Alquion.
With the Flexolyser, Alquion is building on the Battolyser and VDL technology, focusing on full flexibility and high production capacity. An investment decision for a 0.5 MW demonstration system at an industrial customer site is planned for may of this year, and preparations for a 5-10 MW first-of-a-kind production system have already begun. Europe imports over 60% of its energy use today and relies on solar and wind developments to become more energy independent for which flexible hydrogen is crucial. The Netherlands can play a pioneering role with its offshore wind potential, infrastructure, industrial hydrogen customers and pipelines to Germany and Belgium.
Willem van der Leegte, President and CEO of VDL Groep, said:
"Together with VDL Groep, Alquion will build a supply chain for electrolysers in The Netherlands. This will allow us to optimally utilize our offshore wind potential and strengthen our manufacturing industry and create high value jobs."
Together with VDL Groep, Alquion is part of HyValueChain, a consortium that aims to develop a supply chain for an electrolyser in the Netherlands. It is also one of the project proposals from the Wennink Rapport to strengthen the Netherlands' future economy.
About Alquion
Alquion B.V. (Schiedam, Eindhoven) is a cleantech scale-up founded in 2026 that develops and markets the Flexolyser®, a fully flexible alkaline electrolyser for industrial applications. Alquion has 50 employees and is based in Mainport Rotterdam and Brainport Eindhoven. The main shareholders are VDL Groep, Innovation Industries, Global Cleantech Capital, and Invest-NL. www.alquion.com
About VDL Groep
Strength through cooperation. This is the cornerstone of VDL Groep, the international industrial family business with its headquarters in Brainport Eindhoven. The company was founded in 1953. Seventy years on, the company has been run by the third generation of the Van der Leegte family since 2016. VDL Groep employs approximately 14,000 employees and operates in 20 countries. The group consists of more than 100 specialist operating companies that all work closely together. The activities of these companies can be summarised in the ‘five worlds of VDL’: Hightech, Mobility, Energy, Infratech and Foodtech. The combined annual turnover stood at 4.281 billion euro in 2024. www.vdlgroep.com
Media contact
Alquion: Rene de Milliano, +31 (0)6 25 45 71 46, rene@battolysersystems.com
VDL Groep: Miel Timmers, +31 (0)6 14 76 70 66, m.timmers@vdl.nl
