The players in this sector, which includes thirty-three major groups in the sector, including Air Liquide, Engie and Total, explain, in a manifesto intended for the State, the procedure to be followed so that France is a leader in sector.
All the signals are green for the hydrogen sector. Tuesday, July 21, during his interview with TF1’s “8 p.m.”, Emmanuel Macron repeated it several times: “France [thanks to the European recovery plan and the 40 billion that will be granted to it] will finance industries such as hydrogen (…) which will help create jobs.”
In this context favorable to a green recovery, the French Association for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells (Afhypac) – which notably brings together thirty-three major groups in the sector, including Air Liquide, Engie or Total -, asks the State to invest nearly 10.3 billion euros between 2020 and 2030 in the development of this technology.
A plan, which the association itself qualifies as “ambitious” and which has nothing to do with the one launched in 2018 by Nicolat Hulot, which planned to invest 100 million euros in the sector. “We can no longer take small steps on the subject, we need a long-term vision,” said Philippe Boucly, president of Afhypac.
The objective is to make France a leader in the sector between 2020 and 2030 and to compete with our German neighbor, which has already announced that it wants to invest 9 billion euros in hydrogen. “If we miss the train now, others will take the place and win the day,” Mr. Boucly insists. Especially since we have industrial champions in France, and we have largely started to build the sector.”
A greener industry!
In the multi-year energy program (PPE) – the country’s energy roadmap for the coming decade – hydrogen does not figure prominently. Nevertheless, the objective of the PPE is to achieve 10% carbon-free hydrogen in industry by 2023, and from 20% to 40% in 2028. “The manifesto that we have produced only aims to respect the trajectory traced by the PPE, by quantifying the investment necessary to achieve it”, declares the association.
State investment should thus amount to more than 10 billion euros and that of other private actors to nearly 25 billion euros. All this would be divided between two main sectors:
- The development of hydrogen mobility: Afhypac recommends the establishment, by 2030, of 300,000 light commercial vehicles, 5,000 heavy goods vehicles, 250 trains and 1,000 boats.
- Industry: currently, hydrogen is mainly used in industry and is mainly produced from fossil fuels. By accelerating its production from renewable electricity, hydrogen would decarbonise entire areas of industrial activity.
A necessary governance!
To implement this plan, governance is necessary to structure the deployment of hydrogen in France in order to bring together national public authorities and players in the sector. “We do not know if it will depend on the planning commission or a new body created, but a place is necessary to build a clear and transparent framework, based on the national strategy”, underlines Philippe Boucly.
According to Afhypac, the investment trajectory drawn in this way would reduce emissions by 4 megatonnes (Mt) of CO2 for the year 2030 and avoid more than 20 Mt of cumulative CO2 over the decade 2020-2030. The sector could generate between 120,000 and 250,000 direct and indirect jobs in France.
Reference: https://www.boursorama.com/bourse/forum/1rPALDIE/detail/455485764/
