In partnership with France Hydrogène, Ademe organized a webinar whose objective was to present the call for projects “Territorial hydrogen ecosystems – EcosysH2 » which has just been relaunched.
LThe meeting highlighted the impact of the European framework in anticipation of a new regulation that imposes more competition. This EcosysH2 call for proposals is intended for all companies in the energy, industry, transport or construction sectors, communities or public actors in charge of operating transport networks and port areas.
Territorial dynamics
For this call, carried out within the framework of the France 2030 investment program and which should be renewed in 2024, a maximum envelope of €175 million is available. Christelle Werquin of France Hydrogène recalled that there was strong momentum in the territories. For his part, Hoang Bui, coordinator of the national strategies for “decarbonized hydrogen” and “decarbonization of industry” at the SGPI (General Secretariat for Investment) recalled that the State had allocated €320 million over the period 2020–2022. “The effort is of the same intensity for 2023 and even greater,” he declared, before emphasizing that the calls for projects had to take into account the European framework and put the actors in competition.
On the Ademe side, Luc Bodineau, Hydrogen program coordinator, and Gwendal Méance, Hydrogen project manager, were at the helm. They recalled that, following the mobility (2018–2019) and territorial ecosystem (2020–2021) calls for proposals, 35 ecosystems had been created. Forty-six applications were selected out of 138 submitted. The investment totals 1.3 billion euros. These ecosystems will create 100 stations and promote the deployment of 800 vehicles, with 81 MW of electrolysis at stake.
Detail on EcosysH2
Luc Bodineau then detailed the EcosysH2 call for proposals. This promotes the establishment and operation of new hydrogen production infrastructures (by water electrolysis or biomass pyrogasification) and new distribution infrastructures. It also covers the extension of existing hydrogen ecosystems (with new transport uses). It also includes the acquisition or rental of equipment (vehicles, ships, machines) requiring the use of hydrogen in passenger and goods transport activities or for handling materials or goods. The Ademe expert sees increasing needs in logistics.
The sticking point concerns the application of the GBER. This General Block Exemption Regulation will allow States to allocate more significant public funding to a wider range of companies, without having to first request permission from the European Commission. This is a good point, but it implies environmental efficiency criteria and a competitive tendering process. It is up to the project leaders to propose the desired amount of aid based on the projected expenditure. It will therefore be necessary to carry out economic simulations. Three categories have been defined. The first (€20 million) concerns new ecosystems, with secure uses mainly for industry. The second (€120 million) concerns new ecosystems with uses oriented towards mobility, logistics and transport. The third (€25 million) concerns the extension of existing ecosystems with new stations for more than 30 tonnes of hydrogen per year.
Luc Bodineau indicated that immature projects were not part of the EcosysH2 call for proposals. He advised turning instead to the call for technological bricks and hydrogen demonstrators, which is more oriented towards research. When a question was asked about combustion engines, the Ademe expert replied that the agency was “waiting to see the technological maturity”. For him, the hydrogen combustion engine is competing with the fuel cell and this raises the question of a strategic decision for the sector. “We cannot commit today”, he added. Hoang Bui then took over by declaring that “the State was neutral and was studying all avenues so as not to miss out on innovations”. At this stage, he considers that the technical challenges to be met concern NOx emissions.
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A low-carbon industrial zone The Loire Estuaire region has been designated the winner of the Low Carbon Industrial Zone (ZIBaC) call for projects, supported by Ademe as part of the “France 2030” program. Nantes-Saint-Nazaire, the leading port on the Atlantic coast, will become a hub for decarbonized energy. The site now has the status of a ZIBaC, in the same way as Dunkirk, Fos-sur-Mer and Le Havre. In concrete terms, the aim is to create a multimodal hydrogen hub enabling the production, import and transport of low-carbon hydrogen. At the same time, a CO hub2 multimodal (allowing the capture, reception, recovery and export of CO2 industrial), a natural gas hub (for the production and distribution of renewable/low carbon gas) as well as a pole dedicated tothree decarbonized energies allowing the production and supply of biofuels, bioLNG, biofuels, etc. will be created. The action program of €8.2 million over two years is supported to the tune of €4.1 million by Ademe. Let us also specify that the port of Saint-Nazaire is located near offshore wind farms (first offshore wind farm of 480 MW, first floating wind turbine with 20 GW of potential). The Loire Estuaire territory is characterized by a major energy platform providing 10% of France’s energy supply. |
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