Lhyfe and AREC Occitanie inaugurate France’s largest green and renewable hydrogen production site

Two years after its first site in the Pays de la Loire region, Lhyfe is inaugurating two new production units this month, in Occitanie and Brittany, thus confirming its promise of large-scale industrial deployment (five other sites are already under construction or expansion across Europe). These two new sites – each with five times the production capacity of the historic site – meet the growing market demand for green and renewable hydrogen.  

It is also an important week for the Occitanie Region, which is laying the first operational building blocks of its ambitious €150 million “Green Hydrogen” plan, announced in 2019. With the inauguration of Lhyfe Occitanie, the Region is launching the concrete deployment of the projects selected under the Occitanie H2 Corridor project. 

Clean fuel produced locally, to supply the entire region 

At the Triangle business park in Bessières, a few dozen kilometres from Toulouse, Lhyfe Occitanie will now produce up to two tonnes of green and renewable hydrogen per day (i.e. a production capacity from electrolysis of 5 MW), with the possibility of further ramping up production to keep pace with changing uses and needs. Two tonnes of hydrogen would enable a hydrogen truck to travel around 25,000 km, without emitting a single gram of CO₂. With the equivalent quantity, a car could go around the earth five times, or travel around 200,000 km. 

Lhyfe Occitanie hydrogen is produced through the electrolysis of water using renewable electricity. PPA (Power Purchase Agreement) contracts signed with renewable electricity producers (including VSB Energies Nouvelles and Kallista Energy) ensure the power supply.  

The Occitanie H2 Corridor is part of the North-South European hydrogen corridor project, which aims to decarbonise goods and passenger transport on an axis running between the Mediterranean and the North Sea. 

In accordance with the aims of the Occitanie H2 Corridor project led by the Region of Occitanie, this site will help to decarbonise transport by supplying green and renewable hydrogen to trucks, coaches and other fuel cell vehicles. 

The aim of the Region with the Occitanie H2 Corridor is to have two renewable hydrogen production facilities by the end of 2024, initially representing a total six tonnes of output a day, eight hydrogen fuel stations (delivering 600 to 1200 kg per day), 40 hydrogen-powered trucks, 62 refrigerated trailers/units and 15 regional interurban buses retrofit to run on hydrogen which will be delivered in the first half of 2024.  

Lhyfe Occitanie could also deliver the other refuelling stations that will be built in the region. In addition, thanks to its scalable production capacity, this site will also meet the green and renewable hydrogen needs of industry (e.g. aeronautics and equipment manufacturing), transport/logistics providers and local authorities in the area wishing to rapidly decarbonise their mobility and/or processes.

Lhyfe Heroes 

To encourage mobility players to switch to hydrogen, in 2022 Lhyfe launched the Lhyfe Heroes digital platform, which includes all the necessary information for this transition, such as a simulator to assess needs and estimate the kilos of CO₂ avoided, a catalogue listing hydrogen players, and an Ecosystems module to identify hydrogen pioneers nearby for the launch of joint projects. Lhyfe Heroes has been offering local players in Occitanie a first Group Buy Offer, facilitating access to a selection of seven hydrogen-powered vehicles from Stellantis and GCK Mobility, including coaches, dump trucks, refuse collection vehicles and light commercial vehicles.