Lhyfe selected by Epinal Urban Community to create a green and renewable hydrogen production site in Epinal (France), and to develop the future Grand Est region fuel chain
– Lhyfe’s project selected in the consultation launched by Epinal Urban Community (Communauté Agglomération d’Epinal) and piloted by Vosj’Innove
– An ambitious, cross-border project (several dozen MW of installed capacity will produce hydrogen for local, German, Belgian and Dutch uses), in response to the increasing need for decarbonisation in industry and the transport sector
– Commissioning scheduled for the end of 2027
Nantes (France), 6 July 2023, 7:30 am CEST – Lhyfe (EURONEXT: LHYFE), one of the world’s pioneers in green and renewable hydrogen production, has been selected by Epinal Urban Community following the consultation led by the local development association Vosj’Innove,
for the creation of a green hydrogen fuel chain due in late 2027.
Lhyfe aims to build a site producing green and renewable hydrogen for otherwise-difficult-to-decarbonize uses in the transport sector (e.g. trucks, waste collection vehicles, buses, etc.), and industry (e.g. glassmaking, steelmaking, metals, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, food manufacturing, etc.).
Lhyfe produces its green and renewable hydrogen through the electrolysis of water, at production units powered by renewable energy. The company’s first site (Lhyfe Pays de la Loire) has already been in operation since the second half of 2021, and five other sites – in France, Germany and Sweden – are currently under construction. In parallel, Lhyfe is working on offshore hydrogen production projects – its Sealhyfe pilot system achieved a world first, in June 2023, when it began producing hydrogen at sea, off Le Croisic, in Loire-Atlantique.
On the territory of Epinal Urban Community, Lhyfe aims to build and run a large-scale hydrogen production site, with installed capacity of several megawatts. It will supply hydrogen for local uses in the Epinal area, as well as for transregional and cross-border uses.
This green and renewable hydrogen production site will allow the creation of a cutting-edge industrial cluster in the Vosges department, strengthening the urban community’s industrial and territorial ecology strategy and the attractiveness and development of the area.
The project’s implementation is subject to the granting of operating authorizations and construction permits, as well as to financial investment decisions.
About Lhyfe
Lhyfe is a European group devoted to energy transition, and a producer and supplier of green and renewable hydrogen. Its production sites and portfolio of projects intend to provide access to green and renewable hydrogen in industrial quantities, and enable the creation of a virtuous energy model capable of decarbonising entire sectors of industry and transport.
In 2021, Lhyfe inaugurated the first industrial-scale green hydrogen production plant in the world to be interconnected with a wind farm. In 2022, Lhyfe inaugurated the first offshore green hydrogen production pilot platform in the world.
Lhyfe is represented in 11 European countries and had 149 staff at the end of 2022. The company is listed on the Euronext market in Paris (ISIN: FR0014009YQ1 – LHYFE). Lhyfe.com
About Epinal Urban Community
Epinal Urban Community in its current form is six years old. With its 78 municipalities and 116,000 inhabitants, it covers a third of the Vosges department and represents a diverse collection of essentially rural areas organised around a main town and several village centres.
Committed from an early stage to innovative economic development and the ecological and energy transition, it has set itself an ambitious target: to be energy self-sufficient by 2050, with a target of 46% renewable energy by 2030.
To achieve this, it is taking action on all fronts, encouraging energy efficiency, for example, and promoting the production of renewable energy.
In this context, Epinal Urban Community sought the expertise of VOSJ’’ INNOVE, which led to the selection of LHYFE’s ambition project for the production and distribution of green hydrogen.
This large-scale project is perfectly in line with the Urban Community’s objectives.
About Vosj’Innove:
The Vosj’innove association was created in 2016 with the support of Epinal Urban Community. It brings together business leaders who volunteer their time to support the economic development of their area.
Members share their expertise, skills and those of their teams, as well as their network, to support Epinal Urban Community in the performance of its economic missions, as well as in developing new industries.
Vosj’innove led the consultation process with the energy companies it approached or that submitted proposals and produced a pre-feasibility study on setting up a hydrogen production and distribution unit in the area, enabling the local authority to decide on the project it wished to pursue. www.vosjinnove.fr
