Specializing in aerospace and civil systems, the Nexeya company turned to hydrogen in 2012 with its Industry and Power Solutions division. Transport and storage with the acquisition last April of Mahytec, but also application on isolated or maritime sites, Nexeya is developing numerous projects.
A subsidiary of the Hensoldt group, a player in the world of defense (1.3 billion turnover and 1,000 patents!), Nexeya, with 120 million turnover and a workforce of 700 employees, operates in the aeronautical defense markets, but also of energy supply.
A vertical hydrogen offer
“We made the choice in 2012, for our Industry and power solutions division, to turn to hydrogen,” indicates Loïc Carré, Industry & Energy Solutions offer line manager. Through our skills in electronics and power conversion, integration of safety/regulatory components, we initially positioned ourselves as a designer and integrator in stationary markets, but today we have the desire to verticalize our offers, with the development of storage, control and intelligent energy management solutions. » Nexeya already has several projects to its credit, alone or in a group of companies, such as positive energy buildings with the integration of an electrolyser for an eco-district in La Rochelle. “The acquisition in April 2021 of Mahytec marks one of the stages of our verticality strategy,” continues Loïc Carré. Specializing in the storage and transport of hydrogen, this company offers two hydride or compressed hydrogen tank technologies at pressures of 60 to 500 bars, enough to cover these two key sectors of the hydrogen industry.
Stations, ports and isolated sites
Thanks to Mahytec’s skills, Nexeya is currently working on a 20-foot container solution with 58 tanks for a total of 450 kg of hydrogen. “Our objective is to reduce storage and transport costs,” explains Loïc Carré. With cascading networks allowing maximum use of the hydrogen thus stored, these containers with a cooling unit to guarantee rapid filling are ideal for supplying mobility stations, but also for port applications. “We are working on providing shore power for ships in port, with a mobile unit on a barge which integrates a container with storage and a large fuel cell with 2 MW of power over 12 hours. A pilot project is underway at the port of Sète for delivery scheduled for September 2023,” explains the supply line manager. Moreover, Nexeya also works with the large seaport of Bordeaux as part of a European project. The company is also interested in other heavy mobility projects, notably in the on-board storage of gaseous (and non-liquid) hydrogen in aeronautics with a major manufacturer!
Other developments are underway at Nexeya: implementation of energy autonomy for isolated sites, particularly military sites, but also civil sites, with coupling of renewable energy production (mainly photovoltaic) of battery and storage, day/day management night, security of power calls, operation 24/7. The advantages of this Surhycate “offgrid” pack are: modularity, robustness, rapid deployment, silence and zero emissions!
