Today, Lhyfe is kicking off construction of its largest green hydrogen production site at Le Cheylas (Isère), between Grenoble and Chambéry (Southeastern France). It will produce 4 tonnes a day.

Initially, the site was designed to produce up to 2 tonnes a day, with an electrolysis capacity of 5 MW. However, due to its location and the potential market, the decision was taken to go straight to 10 MW. As a result, 4 tonnes of hydrogen per day will be produced on site from the start-up date in 2026. This doubling of capacity will make Lhyfe Le Cheylas the largest Lhyfe site in France, ahead of Bessières (Haute-Garonne) and Buléon (Morbihan), with 5 MW each.

A buoyant industrial ecosystem

Why did Lhyfe decide a change of plan? The plant is located in the Grésivaudan, one of the Isère valleys. Located between Grenoble and Chambéry, it has the potential to meet the needs of a number of industries that already use hydrogen (such as microelectronics) or are likely to do so in a near future (industry, chemicals). According to Lhyfe, the Le Cheylas site could be of interest to the Roches-Roussillon chemical platform and potentially the Chemical Valley in Lyon (which will be served by a hydrogen pipeline). 

The French group based in Nantes also mentioned that the organisation of the Winter Olympics in the French Alps in 2030 represents another opportunity. 

In the meantime, mobility will be one of the outlets. Lhyfe has signed a ten-year sales contract with HYmpulsion* to supply its hydrogen stations in the Alps with a volume of 600 tonnes a year (around 1.6 tonnes a day).

The Lhyfe Le Cheylas site has received support from the European Just Transition Fund, as part of the 2021-2027 European Regional Programme implemented by the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region, in close collaboration with the areas concerned. The contractual grant amounts to €5.5 million. This project is also part of the European hydrogen valley project IMAGHyNE, coordinated by this French Region and receiving financial support from the Clean Hydrogen Partnership. The subsidy contracted under this scheme amounts to 750,000 euros.

*6 stations have already been inaugurated across the HYmpulsion network, and 7 others are currently under construction.

Article written by Laurent Meillaud and translated by Logan King