(Nantes / France) – French hydrogen producer Lhyfe SA has received planning permission for its second green hydrogen production facility in Buléon in the Morbihan region of Brittany. With a capacity of five megawatts, two tons of the gas could be produced every day. The company wants to install an electrolyzer capacity of more than three gigawatts by 2030.
Rendering for the site in Buléon, Brittany. © Lhyfe
The preparatory construction work for “Lhyfe Bretagne” on a plot of land measuring around 6.800 square meters near a wind farm will begin shortly, explained Lhyfe. Civil engineering work will start at the end of February and commissioning is planned for the second half of 2023.
Fuel for buses and passenger ships
The plant will supply hydrogen primarily for regional transport and for industrial processes. The Lorient Agglomération community association in the Morbihan department has already registered a need and will be the first area in Brittany to benefit from the location.
Lhyfe went public in Paris in May 2022. The main investor is Matthieu Guesné with 18,7 percent (center of picture, company founder, CEO and CEO) followed by Noria (part of the energy association of the French Vendée region, SyDEV), Vendeé Hydrogène (the Vendée region south of Nantes wants to build a hydrogen infrastructure), Les Saules Group, the energy supplier EDP Renewables Europe and the investor Ouest Croissance. 36,6 percent are in free float (as of June 2022). The company wants to install an electrolyzer capacity of more than three gigawatts by 2030. © Lhyfe / Charlène Yves
In the greater Lorient area, Lhyfe Bretagne will supply two filling stations operated by Hygo Energy over a period of ten years; one at a bus depot, the other open to the public on the banks of the River Scorff, where ships can also store fuel. In total, “19 buses and two passenger ships in the metropolitan area could be operated with this clean, locally generated energy,” according to the company.
Lorient Agglomération wants to modernize its public transport and completely convert its fleet and ships to clean engines by 2030. According to Fabrice Loher, president of the Lorient agglomeration and mayor of Lorient, the first seven hydrogen buses would be on the road next autumn.
Delivery radius around 150 kilometers
However, the central location will also enable Lhyfe to supply customers within a radius of around 150 kilometers throughout Brittany. In addition to decarbonization, the project is also intended to contribute to the development of a hydrogen-related industry and support maritime and industrial hydrogen applications.
In addition, a training program for energy, electrical and hydrogen technology is being developed at the University of Southern Brittany (UBS). The university's engineering school (ENSIBS) is also setting up France's first course in the field of "Energy and Hydrogen".
Hydrogen infrastructure in western France
Lhyfe Bretagne is part of the “VhyGO” (Vallée Hydrogène Grand Ouest) initiative launched in 2020, which is supported by the French Energy Agency and private investors. The aim is to build the country's first supra-regional infrastructure for the production and distribution of green hydrogen in the Western France region.
VHyGO wants to set up five production facilities with a volume of around ten tons per day as well as 15 hydrogen filling stations in the regions of Brittany, Normandy and Pays de la Loire. According to Lhyfe, it is represented in eleven European countries and had around 2022 employees at the end of 150.
Photos
Lhyfe location in the French commune of Bouin, southwest of Nantes, Pays de la Loire region. © Lhyfe / William Jezequel
