the largest green hydrogen plant will open in 2025

It is the largest factory of its type in France and is located in Aude. The Hyd’occ project in Port-la-Nouvelle plans to produce green hydrogen.

In Port-la-Nouvelle, in Aude, the largest French green hydrogen production plant is under construction. From 2025, it should produce 3,000 tonnes.

“These 3,000 tonnes that we are going to produce, we re-inject them into heavy mobility vehicles, that’s 30 tonnes of CO₂ which will not be released into the atmosphere”, explains Pierre-Brice Valerio, hydrogen engineering manager for the company Qair, which is leading the project.

It’s clean energy.

Pierre-Brice Valerio, hydrogen engineering manager for the company Qair

Cost of the project: 60 million euros, largely financed by the Occitanie region and the Energy Transition Agency. Four electrolysers will obtain oxygen and especially hydrogen from water.

At this plant, the hydrogen will be compressed to 450 bars and then shipped in trucks to gas stations. Most of the production is intended for the mobility sector.

“It will be part of a distribution network of stations which will provide private stations and which will work with local authorities to supply vehicles such as buses or service vehicles”explains Jerôme Huon, operations director of the Hyd’Occ factory.

The water needed to produce hydrogen will come exclusively from a wastewater treatment plant. The factory will be powered half by a photovoltaic plant.

Green hydrogen wants to stand out from gray hydrogen, its competitor. “Today, gray hydrogen comes from fossil fuels in refineries, and from the optimization of gases from processes. We will use water and electricity to produce 100% carbon-free hydrogen”, assures Jerôme Huon. The Occitanie region aims to produce 20% of French green hydrogen.