Lhyfe has secured the construction authorization for its second green and renewable hydrogen production site in the Morbihan region of Brittany, France, and is set to commence preparatory construction work.
Hydrogen will mostly be supplied by Lhyfe Bretagne, which is anticipated to be operational by the second half of 2023, for local transportation systems and business industrial activities. The first region in Brittany to benefit from the hydrogen produced at the Lhyfe plant is Lorient Agglomération, which has already identified its green hydrogen needs. The ADEME-supported VHyGO project includes Lhyfe Bretagne.
Lhyfe starts its extensive rollout
With the announcement of the construction of its second green and renewable hydrogen production facility in Brittany, Lhyfe has made a new milestone.
Lhyfe plans to have more than 3 GW of installed capacity by 2030, and this announcement is the first in a protracted sequence of deployments.
By electrolyzing water utilizing resources and energy from the area, Lhyfe will produce green, renewable, or completely carbon-free hydrogen for local applications in Buléon, in the region of Morbihan.
Lhyfe has chosen a 6,800 m2 area of land near a wind farm as the starting point for its project.
Civil engineering work can now start at the end of February with commissioning planned for the second half of 2023, now that the building permit has been acquired.
The Lhyfe Bretagne facility will be able to generate up to 2 tonnes of clean, renewable hydrogen each day (5 MW).
In keeping with its short supply chain concept, Lhyfe will be able to supply its customers practically everywhere in Brittany — within a radius of around 150 kilometers.
Lhyfe Bretagne will supply two refueling stations run by HyGO in the Lorient area as part of the VHyGO or Great West Hydrogen Valley program. One will be at the Lorient bus depot and the other will be accessible to the general public on the left bank of the Scorff for nautical uses. Eventually, the Lorient conurbation might use this clean and local energy to power 19 buses and two passenger transport boats (known as Transrades).
These hydrogen-powered Transrades will be a first in France. Through the replacement of its fleet of public transportation vehicles, Lorient Agglomération is actively contributing to the ecological transition. It plans to migrate buses (80% of the fleet will have BioGNV engines and 20% renewable hydrogen fuel cell engines) and ships to an all-clean fleet by 2030 and attain carbon neutrality by 2050. (with the arrival of hydrogen-powered sea buses).
This project has a significant regional component because it is fostering the development of a hydrogen-related sector in addition to decarbonizing uses:
- Development of land-based uses as well as maritime and industrial hydrogen applications,
- Development of the local training offer (degree in Energy, Electrical, and Hydrogen engineering from the Southern Brittany University (UBS),
- Improved skills of several businesses in the hydrogen sector (construction, operation, and maintenance of hydrogen infrastructure, particularly of vehicles and boats),
- Creating public hydrogen refueling stations in Brittany to provide clean energy.
The Great West Hydrogen Valley (VHyGO) project includes Lhyfe Bretagne, which has profited from some of the funding given to the project’s partners.
The municipal region of Lorient awarded a Global Performance Contract to the HyGO, GNVert, and Lhyfe consortium to design, build, operate, and maintain two environmentally friendly and renewable hydrogen refueling stations. For ten years, Lhyfe Bretagne will provide them with clean, renewable hydrogen.
