While the French hydrogen sector is still waiting for the national hydrogen strategy to be updated, a collective opinion column published in Les Echos* puts forward the point of view of the SMEs compared to the major groups. It comes from the Renewable Hydrogen Union (UNHYR).

The companies Arhyze, BayWa r.e., CVE Group, ENERTRAG, Hynoé, Valeco and Qenegy have all signed the opinion column, which was published on 9 November. They wanted to comment on the French government’s announcement on 19 September of a public support mechanism for the production of low-carbon hydrogen.

The opinion column deplores the fact that the €4 billion will be reserved for companies with sales of at least €100 million and developing projects of more than 30 MW. This focus on large groups is tantamount to “forgetting the regions”, despite the fact that France has a “breeding ground of innovative companies in the hydrogen sector”. The text does not fail to draw a parallel with the European Hydrogen Bank, which can encourage the deployment of projects of more than 5 MW that can be implemented quickly and meet the needs of decarbonisation.

For these signatory companies, the solution is to promote the development of projects of all sizes in order to build a national hydrogen strategy that includes both the traditional energy players and SMEs, thus contributing to a balanced energy transition across the country.

You can read the full text here (in French).

*A daily French financial newspaper

**Union Hydrogène Renouvelable

Do you want to learn more about the French hydrogen strategy? Then our latest 2 articles on the subject should be of interest to you. You can read them here and there. 

Article written by Laurent Meillaud and translated by Logan King