Pierre-Etienne Franc, then vice-president of Air Liquide, refuels in front of the press at his company’s hydrogen station in Loges-en-Josas, in Yvelines, on September 12, 2019 (AFP/Archives/ERIC PIERMONT)
The delay in hydrogen infrastructure projects is a “peril” for the climate agenda in Europe, says Pierre-Etienne Franc, director-general of the investment fund Hy24, one of the largest in the world in having specialized in low-carbon hydrogen, during an interview with AFP.
“While the number of hydrogen-related projects is soaring in China, the dynamic is slowing down in Europe where regulatory uncertainties must be resolved as quickly as possible” so as not to miss the energy transition and to curb the warming of temperatures linked to human activity, particularly heavy industry, believes Mr. Franc.
Former senior manager of the French group Air Liquide, he co-founded in 2021 Hy24, a management company which has already raised 2 billion euros with European, American, Asian industrialists and investors and the French Ardian, in order to “promote the Global Decarbonized Hydrogen Ecosystem”.
Q: Where are the hydrogen infrastructure projects in the world? And since the launch of your first fund dedicated to the subject?
A: According to the World Hydrogen Council, in its latest report for 2023, the momentum has almost doubled in one year with more than 1,000 projects announced, representing $320 billion in investments globally.
Hy24 has invested in four companies, two project developers, Hy2Gen, Everfuel in Denmark, as well as in the renewable and hydrogen branch of Enagas in Spain, and in the most developed European network of hydrogen stations in Europe, H2 Mobility Deutschland.
Q: Why insist on hydrogen, when we are only talking about electrifying the world to replace CO2-emitting fossil fuels?
A: If we want to decarbonize heavy industry and energy-intensive sectors such as intensive transport (from taxis to trucks to boats and planes), hydrogen is essential in addition to electricity.
But to be clean, it must be produced from renewable or carbon-free energies, that is to say from the electrolysis of water (H20) with electricity from wind, solar or nuclear, or extracted from natural gas, methane (CH4), by associating the capture and storage of the CO2 emitted, in particular if this makes it possible to go faster to reduce emissions.
The massive deployment of hydrogen is an advanced indicator of the deployment of the energy transition, it is its benchmark. The faster you deploy it, the more it means that we deal with the most intensive sectors in terms of CO2 emissions, that is to say the basic industries which emit the most, refining, fertilizers, cement, steel or chemistry. This requires ambitious planning and firm deadlines.
Hydrogen must also be able to come from the most competitive countries in renewable energies, such as Spain or the Maghreb countries. The use of nuclear as another vector for electrolysis is relevant, but the renovation of the installed base will take a long time, there are conflicts of use of the electron, and the renewable projects in Europe are often too small, too long and too expensive.
Q: What is Europe doing on hydrogen?
A: The Commission has planned for Europe to produce 10 million tonnes of carbon-free hydrogen and import 10 million tonnes by 2030. The infrastructures for importing hydrogen or ammonia still need to exist. To date, we are falling behind.
Debates on the renewable energy regulations (RED) have slowed down its finalization in Brussels. Regulatory uncertainty greatly hampers investment decision-making. For example, for existing natural gas-based production, the regulations could have set a deadline for launching CCS (capture and storage) solutions within a decade or for deploying electrolysis solutions with appropriate financial support. On this point, the regulations leave questions.
Meanwhile, China is advancing. It has 150 declared electrolyser suppliers, more than half of the manufacturing capacity and currently produces nearly 50% of hydrogen by electrolysis.
Q: What is the situation in France?
A: France was very quick to support equipment manufacturers, those who will produce tanks, batteries, electrolyzers, such as Genvia, Alstom, Forvia, Symbio, McPhy or John Cockerill.
The challenge now is to deploy infrastructure for use and transport downstream.
© 2023 AFP
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