A “pilot” production line of electrolysers used to produce carbon-free hydrogen was inaugurated on Thursday at the Genvia site in Béziers (Hérault), a step towards large-scale production in a key sector for the energy transition and the reconquest industrial.
Created in March 2021 and the result of research by the Commission for Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies (CEA) and a collaboration with the groups SLB (ex-Schlumberger), Vinci and Vicat, supported by the State and the Occitania region, Genvia is developing high-temperature electrolyzers to produce hydrogen from the water molecule (H2O) in the form of steam.
Large-scale production from 2026
The pilot line, a condensed version of advanced technologies using in particular artificial intelligence, is designed to “test and validate new production processes” before implementing them on a large scale from 2026, according to the company, which Emmanuel Macron visited in November. 2021. These new generation electrolysers should contribute to the decarbonization of industrial sectors such as the steel, cement or chemical sectors, which are large energy consumers.
“The first step towards the ‘gigafactory’ (from Genvia to Béziers, editor’s note), this pilot line will make it possible to confirm the industrial deployment of high-temperature electrolyser technology to produce carbon-free hydrogen. It is a concrete act of our common commitment between public and private actors for energy sovereignty and the reindustrialization of France,” said the president of the Occitanie Region, Carole Delga, quoted in a press release on Thursday. France is committed, through its France 2030 investment plan, to “future technologies”, of which hydrogen is a part, to develop its industry while decarbonizing it. The electricity used to make hydrogen comes from either nuclear power or renewable energy.
Source: BFM TV
