Plug Power (Latham, N.Y.) and Lhyfe, a French producer and supplier of green hydrogen, announced an partnership to jointly pursue and develop green hydrogen generation plants throughout Europe. The initiative seeks to generate a total hydrogen capacity of 300 MW by 2025, and to start the development of a 1 GW production site.
The agreement builds upon the working relationship already established between the two companies earlier this year. In that project, Plug Power’s hydrogen electrolyzer technology will provide 1MW of capacity to the world’s first offshore hydrogen production facility, developed by Lhyfe and powered by electricity from a floating wind turbine off the coast of Le Croisic, at SEM-REV, Centrale Nantes’ offshore test site, which will be operational by 2022.
Executives from Plug Power and Lhyfe gathered today in Paris, France, at Hyvolution 2021, where they signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) outlining their respective roles and responsibilities, and their goals for the years ahead.
“We’re thrilled to expand our work with Lhyfe, bringing the green hydrogen revolution throughout Europe,” said Andy Marsh, CEO for Plug Power. “The team at Lhyfe have bold ambitions and capabilities that align with our own vision for a decarbonized future, and ability to scale hydrogen infrastructure quickly. In North America, we’ve already built a robust ‘hydrogen highway,’ which includes 165 hydrogen fueling stations and stationary power for businesses and institutions, a success we plan to replicate in Europe.”
Plug Power is the largest buyer of liquid hydrogen globally and has been present in Europe for more than 10 years. The company has made significant progress in deploying hydrogen applications with key European industrials, logistics customers and vehicle manufacturers, including its joint venture with Renault called HYVIA. Plug Power has installed several PEM technology solutions in Germany, France, The Netherlands, Italy and Portugal, and recently announced the launch of its European headquarters in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
“We are very proud of the confidence that a player such as Plug Power has in our determination and ability to produce totally clean hydrogen,” said Matthieu Guesné, CEO and founder of Lhyfe. “Thanks to this partnership, we will be able to rely on Plug Power’s cutting-edge technology to deploy numerous hydrogen production sites onshore and offshore, in Europe but also in North America, which has particularly important decarbonization needs, in particular to replace the fossil fuel products that are still extracted and consumed on a massive scale.”
Lhyfe is a world leader in the industrial production of renewable green hydrogen. In September, the company inaugurated the world’s first industrial production site for renewable hydrogen in direct connection with a wind farm. It will inaugurate the world’s first offshore renewable hydrogen production site on the SEM-REV offshore test site in 2022. Lhyfe is deploying some 60 projects in Europe for mobility and industry.
As part of the announcement, Plug Power and Lhyfe will pursue opportunities to jointly develop green hydrogen generation plants throughout Europe, generated with state-of-the-art PEM electrolysis technology and supplied with electrical power from renewable energy sources. The new initiative will primarily serve on-road and off-road mobility applications. Finally, the two parties will also consider working together to co-develop a US-based offshore wind electrolyzer plant.