Private investment house Ardian and FiveT Hydrogen have formed a joint venture to create Hy241, an investment platform focused on clean hydrogen infrastructure.
The partners said Hy24 is targeting €1.5bn, of which €800m has already been committed by a leading group of industrial and financial investors active in clean hydrogen.
Anchor investors include Air Liquide, TotalEnergies and Vinci, each of which has pledged to invest €100m.
Plug Power, Chart Industries and Baker Hughes are also joining as anchor investors, the JV said.
Lotte Chemical, a large Asian industrial Group, has also confirmed its intention to join as an anchor investor, and so will institutional investor AXA.
The launch partners said that Groupe ADP, Ballard, EDF and Schaeffler are expected to join soon.
The international tender process to select Hy24 and to engage industrial investors was arranged by Societe Generale.
Ardian Infrastructure head Mathias Burghardt said: “We are proud to have been chosen by some of the world’s leading industrial players and investors to lead this initiative.
“At a time when the European Union has announced a step-up in its climate ambitions, and just ahead of COP26, it is a great responsibility to lead such a platform.
“We were early backers of the renewables market, our platform reaching 7.5GW of heat and renewable capacity today, and it is clear to us that hydrogen is facing a similar trajectory.
“This collaborative partnership is exactly in line with how Ardian Infrastructure operates.
“We are confident that Hy24 will be able to play a leading role in accelerating the hydrogen scale-up needed to decarbonize our economies.”
FiveT Hydrogen co-founder Pierre-Etienne Franc said: “This is a great step forward for FiveT Hydrogen. Via this unique partnership, we expect to mobilize €15bn worth of investments as a catalyst for scaling up the industry at pace.
“The world urgently needs to accelerate the energy transition and reduce the carbon output of energy intensive, hard-to-abate sectors like transport and industrial production.
“Together with Ardian, and with the ambitious backing of our industrial LPs, we are well-placed to do this, combining a unique skill set and track record.”