EDPR and Lhyfe to promote renewable hydrogen

EDPR closed an agreement with the French company to identify, develop, build, and manage hydrogen production projects.

EDP ​​Renováveis ​​(EDPR) has entered into an industrial agreement with the French company Lhyfe, a global pioneer and pure player in the production of renewable green hydrogen, to identify, develop, build and jointly manage projects in this business area.

Under the aforementioned agreement, EDPR will supply renewable electricity to Lhyfe’s hydrogen generation projects. In addition, the two companies will identify opportunities for co-development of projects, with EDPR’s participation potentially reaching up to 50% of the project capital. The companies will also work together on R&D activities, new project development and equipment acquisition.

This agreement aims to create value by leveraging the synergies of the complementary skills and capabilities of the two companies, boosting the growth of EDPR’s portfolio, especially in France, and contributing to the development of Lhyfe’s projects worldwide. It also contributes to achieving greater operational and commercial expertise in renewable hydrogen projects.

The company’s ambition is to reach 1.5 GW of green hydrogen production capacity by 2030. In this sense, the group created the H2BU (H2 Business Unit), a business unit specially dedicated to the development of renewable hydrogen projects and focused on the of opportunities in promising sectors, such as the steel industry, chemicals, refineries and cement plants, or heavy long-distance transport.

EDP ​​is at the forefront of this clean energy solution through its leading role in several projects such as GreenH2Atlantic, a 100 MW renewable hydrogen production project in Sines (Portugal), one of three European projects selected by the Green Deal to demonstrate the feasibility of producing green hydrogen. EDP ​​is also promoting other projects in Spain and Brazil, as part of its just transition plans to transform coal plants into clean technology centres. In addition, EDP is actively involved with important hydrogen players, taking advantage of its significant portfolio of renewable assets, namely in the US.

As for Lhyfe’s IPO, its objective is to support the company’s development and growth strategy. The company has a portfolio of more than 4.8 GW of total installed capacity in 93 projects to be developed in Europe and plans to install 200 MW by 2026 and 3 GW by 2030. Among these 93 projects, 20 are in an advanced stage of development, with a total capacity of 380.5 MW expected to come into operation between 2023 and 2026.

Miguel Stilwell d’Andrade, CEO of EDP and EDP Renováveis, added, “We believe that renewable hydrogen can complement direct electrification as the best way to reduce emissions of CO 2 and achieve the decarbonization of the economy, including in the most difficult sectors to decarbonize.”

Matthieu Guesné, founder and CEO of Lhyfe, said, “The trust placed in us by EDPR allows us to confidently consider the development of our renewable hydrogen worldwide and on a large scale.”