Air Liquide and Engie Join Forces on Renewable Hydrogen in France

(Photo Credit: Air Liquide)

Air Liquide and Engie signed an agreement with the Durance, Luberon, Verdon urban area in southern France on a project to produce industrial-scale renewable hydrogen.

The multi-stage project, called HyGreen Provence, aims to produce, store, and distribute renewable hydrogen with the first deliverables expected by the end of 2021. First initiated in 2017, the project should enable the production of 1,300 GWh of solar electricity along with renewable hydrogen on an industrial scale through water electrolysis, the partners said.

Located in Provence, the Durance, Luberon, Verdon (DLVA) urban area includes 25 municipalities. The location has land availability for the project along with 1,450 hours of sunshine annually and a salt cavity storage site that can accommodate large-scale centralized renewable hydrogen production.

The public-private partnership anticipates producing several thousand metric tons of renewable hydrogen each year for a wide variety of uses, according to the project partners.

“Hydrogen can power all types of vehicle from light motorcars to buses, utility vehicles, and trucks,” the partners said. “On the energy front, the project plans to provide heat and cooling for an urban eco-district. Lastly, hydrogen can be used in industrial processes that will benefit the entire region.”

HyGreen Provence’s timeline calls for small-scale electricity production in 2023, a scale-up of hydrogen production at the salt site by 2024, and then another scale-up of solar power and hydrogen production by 2027.

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