Total and Engie to build largest green hydrogen plant in France
Total, the French multinational oil and gas giant, and Engie, a French origin international electric utility firm, agreed to build France’ largest green hydrogen production plant.
Masshylia project is a greenfield hydrogen production plant to be developed at Total’s La Mède biorefinery in France.
The 40 MW electrolyser plant will be powered by 100 MW solar power. The plant nameplate production capacity will be 5 tonnes green hydrogen per day (~1,825 tonnes per year). This is said to be enough to fulfil the demand for biofuel production at the facility, implying to reduce 15,000 tonnes of CO2 emission annually. The new plant will be able to store hydrogen for better management.
The construction works on the plant is set to start in 2020 with production beginning by 2024. The project has already applied for subsidies from AMI, IPCEI and Innovation Fund. Once the first phase completed, the partners would contemplate further taking the green hydrogen production capacity up to 15 tonnes per day (~5,475 tonnes per year).
Total’s La Mède biorefinery is one of the largest in Europe which produces 500,000 tonnes biofuel annually. In addition to NGVs and EVs, Total also started spearheaded in the hydrogen vehicles market. Total with other five companies set up the H2 Mobility JV in Germany a decade ago to promote hydrogen mobility. The JV has so far helped developed over 125 hydrogen fuel stations, and over 52 are planned for the future.
Engie is also working on the world’s first multi-megawatt scale high-temperature electrolysis plant at Neste biorefinery in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The hydrogen production capacity will be 60 kg/h, with over 20% more efficient than a low-temperature electrolyser. The plant is expected to produce 960 tonnes of green hydrogen annually, cutting 8,000 tonnes of CO2 annually.
