Thanks to a business-research-training ecosystem developed for more than twenty years around hydrogen, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, the leading region in France in terms of representation of the hydrogen value chain, is actively contributing to meeting the challenge of the energy transition.
Hydrogen+. Hydrogen is in the Region’s genes, can you tell us more?
Nathalie Loch. The story began in 1999 with research activities on fuel cells at the University of Technology of Belfort-Montbéliard and at the University of Franche-Comté. From 2010, the time came to take hydrogen out of the laboratories and make demonstrators. This momentum has made it possible to carry out a certain number of projects such as the F-City H2, the first French registration of a hydrogen vehicle in 2011, and also in 2014 the first “MobyPost” and “MobilHyTest” experiments, small vehicles running only on a fuel cell and hydrogen. In 2016, we obtained the “Hydrogen Territory” label with the ENRgHy project comprising several large-scale demonstration projects on the scale of a territory, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. In 2019, the Region voted on its roadmap with a budget of 100 million euros over ten years, to which was added 60 million euros as part of the regional investment acceleration plan. This is based on three pillars: training, research and industry. The adventure has since taken root throughout the regional territory. Since 2020, we have achieved the objective of economic spinoff thanks to the hydrogen sector with a change of scale and the establishment of several companies, including two gigafactories in the territory representing the creation of more than 1,000 jobs by 2026.
What is your strategy?
We want to contribute to creating a real industrial ecosystem around the production, storage and distribution of hydrogen. Our strategy is to have the most complete value chain possible. There is a real consensus between the policies, agencies and services of the Region, the State services in the Region, the Future Vehicle cluster, companies, training, the FC Lab (UAR – Research Support Unit) and the Belfort Hydrogen Energy Platform, as well as the UFC and UTBM laboratories, and involved and partner structures such as Ademe or BPI. The common objective is to offer real support to project leaders and companies and to revitalize economic activity and employment thanks to these new markets.
What types of businesses are currently established?
In total, around 100 companies and 2,000 jobs, a real synergy of players covering the entire value chain: fuel cells (Inocel, Gen-Hy), electrolysers (McPhy, Gen-Hy), storage (Forvia, Mincatec, Isthy) and integration into uses (Alstom, Stellantis, H2SYS, Gaussin, etc.). Everything is structured around well-established research with the Femto-ST teams at the forefront, the FC Lab, not forgetting the private research developed within the companies themselves. We will have the opportunity to meet them all again during the Hydrogen Business For Climate forum organized this year in Belfort.
What training do you offer?
We offer two training courses, four engineering schools as well as a BTS and a professional license. The CMI Hydrogen-Energy and Energy Efficiency course at the University of Franche-Comté created in 2015 was the first of its kind in France. It provides five-year training for engineering professions in energy production and management. The specialized master’s degree in hydrogen energy at the Belfort-Montbéliard University of Technology aims to acquire expertise and dual skills in the field of hydrogen energy or to deepen one’s knowledge with a view to career development. We also have a project for a National Hydrogen School as part of the AMI CMA (Skills and Professions of the Future) launched by the State. This will offer industrialists in the sector a real pool of available skills.
Innovative projects are currently being deployed, can you tell us more?
Today, many projects are funded, deployed or in the process of being deployed. Among them, the specialized freight locomotives in Europe by Alstom to decarbonize freight transport; the AuxHYGen station by Hynamics which will produce up to 400 kg of green hydrogen per day using water electrolysis to power the first five buses in the city of Auxerre; the Dijon Métropole Smart EnergHy project which includes four distribution stations to power the community’s future zero-emission vehicles, namely a fleet of more than 200 buses and garbage trucks in the long term. The McPhy electrolyser to produce hydrogen on site will be powered by electricity from a high-temperature household waste incinerator and by locally produced renewable energies. And most recently, the hydrogen station in Danjoutin, near Belfort, which has just been opened to recharge the H2 buses of the city of Belfort, the first seven of which have been delivered. In addition, the hydrogen thermal engine, an engine bench dedicated to this technology, was developed by Oreca Magny-Cours. Another example is the Gaussin company which has developed a modular platform for road trucks, the “H2 skateboard”, 100% hydrogen.
How do you see the future?
Today the global situation has changed, decarbonization has become a major issue and a challenge to be met both at the national level and on a European and global scale. The government will thus grant an envelope of 4 billion euros to support the mass production of low-carbon hydrogen in France. We have a challenge on the TEN-T corridors (Trans-European Transport Network) aimed at deploying hydrogen stations along strategic axes (target: every 200 km) to encourage the development of heavy fleets, particularly trucks. This will require the installation of hydrogen production sites to allow them to be refueled with a certain proximity. Burgundy-Franche-Comté could host this type of hydrogen production site. The future also consists of thinking about the future of technologies. While we only talked about fuel cells a few years ago, many technological diversifications are now appearing, still in development but which could find their place in decarbonization plans and the different uses of hydrogen. For example, the hydrogen thermal engine is a subject of great interest to vehicle manufacturers. Another abundant subject: the storage of hydrogen and its transport, in compressed gaseous form, or via metal hydrides (therefore solid) or in liquid phase, as such (H2) or via other molecules (carrier): methanol, ammonia… The field of “investigations” is immense!
Where can we find you next?
You can find us with the companies in the sector at the Hyvolution trade fair in Paris, in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté 4N32 pavilion and on June 25 and 27, 2024, during the next Hydrogen Days in the Territories, co-organized by the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Region, Dijon Métropole and France Hydrogène.
