There happen to be three major green hydrogen projects that are led by French firms that are moving forward across the UK and are also backed by public funding and total more than 250 MW in terms of electrolysis capacity. Playing active roles across the Tees and Wallsend as well as Fawley initiatives, companies such as EDF, Lhyfe, Hynamics, and Hy24 are actually making their worldwide presence felt and at the same time shaping the future when it comes to renewable hydrogen deployment throughout Europe.
French companies, which happen to be dedicated to green hydrogen, are going ahead and reinforcing their global strategies with a massive focus on the UK, as there are several large-scale renewable hydrogen production projects that are gaining massive momentum all across the Hydrogen Allocation Rounds of the UK government.
It is well to be noted that one of the leading initiatives within this happens to be the Tees Green Hydrogen project, which is developed by EDF as well as Hynamics. Apparently, it has secured a support contract under the UK Hydrogen Allocation Round’s first phase. The initial phase of the project happens to involve a 7.5 MW electrolyzer, which is expected to start construction in 2025 and also become functional in 2026. Going forward, the project has also been shortlisted when it comes to the second phase, which is going to scale up the production by way of adding electrolysis capacity, reaching 100 MW.
On the other hand, Lhyfe, which is a frontrunner when it comes to green hydrogen production, has also received planning permission when it comes to a new site based out of Wallsend, UK. Lhyfe plans to install a 20 MW electrolyzer that is capable of producing around 8 tonnes of green hydrogen every day, which is equivalent to almost 3,000 tonnes every year. This project, in addition to another Lhyfe site, which is located at Kemsley, has also been shortlisted in the Hydrogen Allocation Round 2 by the UK government, therefore showing the sustained commitment when it comes to expanding throughout the major international markets by the company.
In yet another development, Hynamics, as well as Hy24, the investment firm, have inked an MoU so as to develop and also finance the Fawley Green Hydrogen project, which happens to involve the installation of a 120 MW electrolyzer in order to decarbonize the refinery of the ExxonMobil refinery. Notably, this agreement starts the negotiations when it comes to £300 million in terms of project financing, thereby making it one of the largest French-backed projects based on green hydrogen production infrastructure abroad.
It is worth noting that outside of the UK, French technology is also going to Latin America. Pragma Industries has already delivered a hydrogen refueling station when it comes to bicycles to KH2 Green, based out of Chile, thereby marking a landmark in the niche but also a growing segment when it comes to green hydrogen micro-mobility.
The fact is that all these developments happen to reflect a much wider trend of the French green hydrogen production players who are speeding up their global deployment, not just by way of domestic innovation but also at the same time by collaborating with governments along with investors across the world in order to secure new markets and at the same time also scale up certain solutions based on renewable hydrogen.
