The deputy minister for energy from France, Maud Bregeon, announced a new fifteen-year tender valued at €1.2bn for industrial hydrogen. The announcement was made in a conversation with the newspaper Le Parisien and is part of the 2027 finance bill. The industry federation, France Hydrogène, acknowledged the move as an important step forward in supporting the evolution of the national industry.
Second tranche for decarbonized electrolysis
The announcement pertaining to tender valued at €1.2bn for industrial hydrogen builds on momentum created this summer with the designation of the first three winners of the support mechanism for decarbonized hydrogen production. The first tranche includes 161.4 megawatts – MW of electrolysis capacity with €778 million in public funding. Other players in the hydrogen space are also looking for global partnerships, as shown by Lhyfe’s deal to supply renewable hydrogen to H2APEX in Germany.
According to Maud Bregeon, the new tranche is intended to support new industrial projects in reaching final investment decisions, especially within the chemical and fertilizer sectors, within the framework of the Plan Souveraineté Engrais.
The minister’s emphasis on steelmaking brings considerable strategic weight, as noted by France Hydrogène. It sits at the upstream end of whole value chains, which include automotive and construction as well as energy equipment. The federation says primary steel production is responsible for 7% of global carbon dioxide emissions and, in its viewpoint, cannot be decarbonized without hydrogen.
Steelmaking, a fundamental component of industrial sovereignty
By 2050, the French National Low-Carbon Strategy aims to manufacture 6 million tonnes of steel through the immediate reduction of iron ore. GravitHy is the only company in Fos-sur-Mer to intend to manufacture 2 million tonnes of low-carbon iron per year from the early 2030s. This second tranche of support, yet to be confirmed in the 2027 finance bill, is aimed at helping turn these goals into industrial capability.
On 22 July, 2026, Maud Bregeon laid out, with the minister for industry, three steps to include hydrogen in the electrification plan. The second support tranche provides the pillar of that roadmap, which is devoted to industrial hydrogen. By the end of 2026, the sector will work with the minister to finalize the implementation of the IRICC mechanism when it comes to refining, synthetic maritime fuels as well as road mobility, along with the deployment of a de-risking mechanism when it comes to synthetic aviation fuels, said France Hydrogène.
France Hydrogène supports an approach based on industrial sovereignty
Maud Bregeon has fully understood the stakes of making the molecules and materials that industry needs from France’s low-carbon electricity, said the president of France Hydrogène, Nicolas Brahy. This electricity asset becomes industrial value, jobs, and sovereignty with hydrogen, helping sectors like chemicals, fertilizers, and steelmaking, he says.
The federation has 315 members in 15 regional delegations and says it represents the whole hydrogen value chain, from big industrial groups to start-ups and research laboratories as well as local authorities.