“We enjoy a very strong momentum, not a day goes by that we don’t talk about hydrogen.” Philippe Boucly is delighted with the prosperous period that the French hydrogen sector has been going through for several months, or even years. The president of France Hydrogène gives as an example the number of members of his association that has gone from 120 in 2019 to 450 today, from large groups to start-ups and SMEs through local authorities.
To illustrate the change in dimensions of French hydrogen, it is enough to go back to the beginning of the first term of Emmanuel Macron. Five years ago, the Minister for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition, Nicolás Hulot, planned an investment of 100 million euros in the development of this energy. Four years later, the Head of State increased the endowment of his hydrogen plan to more than nine billion euros in ten years as part of the France 2030 project to reach an installed capacity of 6,500 megawatts in electrolysers on that date.
Producers of electrolyzers, tanks and fuel cells
And now we know more about the projects that will benefit from this envelope. This summer, the European Commission announced the 41 winners of the first PIIEC (Important Projects of Common European Interest) program dedicated to hydrogen in transport and called “Hy2Tech”. Ten of them are French and will thus benefit from state funding of 2,100 million euros, to which should be added 3,200 million euros of investment from private agents.
These “gigafactories” will be installed in no less than seven French regions, throughout France, and will generate more than 5,000 direct jobs according to figures reported at the end of September by Elisabeth Borne. They are specialized in the production of equipment around this “energy of tomorrow” such as electrolysers (McPhy, Elogen, John Cockerill), hydrogen tanks (Plastic Omnium, Faurecia), means of transport (Alstom for trains or Hyvia for cars) or even fuel cells (Symbio, Arkema).
The Renault subsidiary will concentrate its investments on the Flins (Yvelines) plant where it intends to multiply its production of fuel cells by ten (currently about 1,000 a year), start up the charging stations and install an electrolyser to test this equipment from 2023 The enthusiasm is the same on the side of the Elogen company, which will build a factory in Vendôme (Loir-et-Cher) in which it will produce from 2025 “batteries”, the heart of electrolysers. “In addition to partially funding the new site, the PIIEC will also help us accelerate our R&D to develop tomorrow’s high-power battery-powered electrolysers,” explains CEO Jean-Baptiste Choimet.
The creation of an ecosystem.
One of the strengths of the French hydrogen sector is its ability to stimulate synergy between all its players, regardless of their size. Thus, most of the Hy2Tech winners are large companies or structures that appear in large groups, but some are simple SMEs such as Elogen or McPhy that will develop new generation alkaline electrolysers near Belfort.
Above all, partnerships are forged among the winners themselves. For example, Symbio has placed a large order with Elogen for an electrolyser that produces one tonne of hydrogen per day and will be installed at its new site in Saint Fons (Rhône). In addition, the tanks used by Hyvia are supplied by Faurecia and the company also plans to work with Plastic Omnium, which has chosen Oise to build a hydrogen tank factory. “We are developing an ecosystem,” summarizes David Holderbach, who has also started discussions with suppliers with a view to partnerships around the fuel cell.
The sector is also moving a little further upstream through “Hy2Use”, a second PIIEC that should allow renewable energy supply to be stimulated while 90% of hydrogen is produced from fossil fuels. This PIIEC has in particular dedicated two large-scale French projects led by major players in the world of energy or gas. The first is called Air Liquide Normand’Hy, stems from a partnership with Siemens Energy and aims to build a 200-megawatt electrolyser in the Port-Jérôme industrial zone. The second, titled Masshylia, is just as impressive and is run by TotalEnergies and Engie. It will consist of a fleet of photovoltaic panels of around one hundred megawatts accompanied by a 40 megawatt electrolyser.
“It is the whole chain that has to be pulled”
While delighted with this significant acceleration, the vast majority of French hydrogen players agree that it remains focused on production, upstream. “One important thing is missing: it is support for uses, emphasizes Philippe Boucly. When you are a municipality or a carrier, they tell us that we pollute a lot, but a hydrogen bus costs twice as much as a model that runs on diesel. It’s the same for hydrogen LCVs, which are three to a quarter times more expensive than gasoline vehicles, even if there are rebates.
An observation that can be observed within Jean-Baptiste Choimet himself: “Today, what is delicate in hydrogen is that we have people who would like to produce hydrogen with electrolysers but do not skip the step because the volumes are not available, the costs are high and, on the other hand, there are upstream companies like ours that lack outlets and also face significant costs, a way to encourage manufacturers to take the plunge even if the hydrogen market is not yet developed.”
For this, the challenge is precisely to “change scale” according to Philippe Boucly, hence the orientation towards “gigafactories”. “The McKinsey firm believes that we are the world leader in hydrogen together with Germany, China, South Korea, he adds. The last two PIIECs dedicated to hydrogen will still be announced soon and will focus respectively on production infrastructure and hydrogen mobility.
Source: BFM TV
