Lhyfe has broken ground on its first green hydrogen site in northern France at Croixrault, in the Somme region of Hauts-de-France.
The site will provide the many manufacturers in Hauts-de-France and mobility players in the region with green and renewable hydrogen to decarbonise their operations, Lhyfe said.
The project is part of a wider ambition initiative of the Communauté de Communes Somme Sud-Ouest (local authority with 119 member communities) that aims to boost local employment and provide a favourable economic environment for companies wishing to set up in a dynamic environment.
From 2026, Lhyfe will have the capacity to produce and deliver up to two tonnes of green hydrogen every day, thanks to an electrolysis capacity of 5MW.
Two tonnes of green hydrogen is equivalent to the amount a hydrogen truck needs to travel around 25,000 km, without emitting a single gram of CO2, the company said.
This site will complete Lhyfe’s coverage of France – it already covers the West (Pays de la Loire and Brittany), South-West (Occitanie) and East (site under construction in Auvergne Rhône-Alpes) of the country.
In addition, due to the controllable nature of Lhyfe’s sites, the Croixrault unit will be one of the sites that can help stabilise the power grid in the Hauts-de-France region, the developer said.
At the request of the power grid operator, Lhyfe will be able to modulate its electricity use upwards or downwards, enabling it to stabilise the grid in the event of peaks in power usage.
Alain Desfosses, president of the Communauté de Communes Somme Sud-Ouest, said: “Lhyfe’s green and renewable hydrogen production project is perfectly aligned with the ambitions of the Communauté de Communes Somme Sud-Ouest (CC2SO), and in particular our will to create synergies and foster innovation using resources available in the Somme region.
“Thanks to this site, we’ll be helping to build a regional ecosystem around locally-produced green and renewable hydrogen.”
Maud Augeai, sales director France at Lhyfe, added: “We’re delighted to announce this new production site in Croixrault. Green hydrogen is beginning to emerge all over Europe, to decarbonise activities that could not be decarbonised until now, both in the heavy or intensive mobility sector and in industry, both of which are particularly present in the Hauts-de-France region.
“As decarbonisation is synonymous with competitiveness, we can’t wait to use the hydrogen produced in Croixrault to contribute to the region’s energy transition, reindustrialisation and energy sovereignty.”