The first Power to Hydrogen project for clean transportation

Located in Denmark, the HyBalance project aims at producing hydrogen for transportation by water electrolysis. It will be the first project to demonstrate the complete value chain from hydrogen renewable energy production to end users including existing five hydrogen charging stations and more than 60 Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles in circulation. Air Liquide is leading this 15 million euros project supported by the European Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking and the Danish ForskEL program.

Denmark has been selected for this innovative project as the country focuses on renewable energy. In 2012, Denmark framed one of the most ambitious energy strategies in Europe targeting to produce approximately 50% of its electricity consumption from wind in 2020, to eliminate all fossil energy use in the heating and electricity sectors by 2035, and to become fossil energy independent in 2050 by substituting these with a mix of renewable energy sources. 

Air Liquide already operates in Denmark a network of five hydrogen charging stations through Copenhagen Hydrogen Network (CHN), a joint venture owned by Air Liquide and H2 Logic. The HyBalance project will contribute to accelerate the clean mobility network in Denmark.

This project will be a first as it implements new key technologies for hydrogen production with a 1MW PEM (Proton Exchange Membrane) Electrolyser provided by the company Hydrogenics and a high pressure supply chain to hydrogen recharging stations. Air Liquide will operate the hydrogen production plant and the filling center.

The hydrogen will be produced at the end of 2017 from water electrolysis, enabling the storage of renewable electricity from wind turbines. It will thus allow to support the grid balancing serving the deployment of the renewable energies.The hydrogen will be used for clean transportation and industrial customers and will contribute to Air Liquide’s Blue Hydrogen commitment.

Pierre-Etienne Franc, Vice President Air Liquide advanced Business & Technologies commented:

“With the share of renewable energy growing in the energy mix, the need to store and downstream use clean energy in fossil dependant sectors such as transportation has become a critical issue. Hydrogen is one of the key enablers to complete the energy transition.”

For more information about the project, visit the Hybalance website

“This project has received funding from the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen 2 Joint Undertaking under grant agreement No 671384. This Joint Undertaking receives support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and France, Germany, Denmark and Belgium.”