Air Liquide to invest in hydrogen supply chain to support the acceleration of low-carbon mobility along the Seine Axis (France)

Pursuing the development of its low-carbon hydrogen ecosystem in the Normandy industrial basin, Air Liquide will invest 50 million euros in a new hydrogen packaging and delivery supply chain to refueling stations along the Seine Axis, to support the acceleration of low-carbon mobility. The new packaging site will be supplied with renewable hydrogen from the Air Liquide Normand’Hy electrolyzer with a capacity of 200 MW currently under construction. This investment will contribute to the decarbonization of industry and mobility in the Normandy and Ile-de-France regions.

The establishment of this supply chain will support the growing number of hydrogen vehicles along the Seine Axis, from Le Havre to the Ile-de-France. This concerns both intensive mobility such as hydrogen taxis, which are expected to triple in number between 2023 and the end of 2024, and corporate fleets of light utility vehicles, as well as heavy mobility with hydrogen buses and trucks. Leveraging notably on long-term partnerships, including a contract to supply renewable hydrogen to HysetCo's fleet of vehicles, Air Liquide will dedicate around a quarter of the production capacity of its Air Liquide Normand’Hy electrolyzer to supplying renewable hydrogen for decarbonized transportation along the Seine Axis. This is equivalent to the consumption of 500 hydrogen trucks or 10,000 light vehicles.

As previously announced, the other three-quarters of Air Liquide Normand’Hy’s production capacity is intended to supply renewable and low carbon hydrogen to customers in the Normandy industrial basin, including the TotalEnergies refinery in Gonfreville. Air Liquide's hydrogen network in Normandy already includes two hydrogen production units - the one located at the TotalEnergies refinery in Gonfreville and another at Port-Jérôme, where the Group has installed its CO₂ capture solution Cryocap™ in 2015.

Emilie Mouren-Renouard, member of Air Liquide’s Executive Committee, notably supervising the Group’s operations in Europe, said: "Leveraging the capacities of the future Air Liquide Normand’Hy electrolyzer, this investment in the renewable hydrogen supply chain constitutes a concrete and decisive step forward in favor of low-carbon transportation around the Seine Axis. It reinforces Air Liquide's positioning across the entire renewable and low-carbon hydrogen value chain, a key component of the energy transition, from production to packaging and transportation to delivery points. With this new project, the Group confirms its commitment to fostering ecosystems that contribute to the transition towards a low-carbon society."