an investment of 500 million euros to “design the great decarbonization hub” in Moselle

The H2V company specializing in the production of green hydrogen announces Tuesday, November 5, 2024, the establishment of an e-fuel production plant on the ZAC Europort in Illange-Thionville.

The H2V company specializing in the production of green hydrogen and e-fuel announces on Tuesday, November 5, 2024, its project to set up on the ZAC Europort (renamed E-Login-4) in Illange-Thionville (Moselle). H2V aims according to its terms: “to design the great decarbonization hub for France and part of Europe”.

It is in the Parc à cast iron area, a 31 hectare plot of land, that a latest generation plant for the production of green hydrogen is to be built. General Director Alexis Martinez confirmed this Tuesday morning, during a press conference, an investment of 500 million euros.

At the origin of the project announced in 2022, H2V aimed to supply hydrogen to two major sectors: industry and heavy goods vehicle, river, maritime and air transport. The company renounces the first to concentrate on mobility: “we changed the destiny of this project to take into account market developments and very strong pressure to develop what we call synthetic fuels. These synthetic fuels will make it possible to decarbonize both transport air and maritime transport. We believe that it is through these outlets that the project will be able to accelerate and develop between now and 2030.

Still according to Alexis Martinez, the industrial sector is not yet profitable for the moment: “for the moment, the outlets for the industrial part today are not conclusive, both on the side of the steelworks and on the side of local industrial activities. The secured volumes are not sufficient”.

Indeed, a major project in which H2V has invested is currently stalled in Dunkirk (North), where the main client, the steelmaker ArcelorMittal, is postponing its decision to decarbonize its steel production. The investment decision has been postponed until the second quarter of 2025, according to the GreenUnivers website.

The company chose the Illange-Thionville site for its multimodal connections: “so we have the railway which is there, we also have barges. In the manufacturing process, we will manufacture e-methanol in Thionville based on biogenic CO2 and green hydrogen, and this e-methanol, we will be able to transport it to ports to fuel either boats or produce it from these synthetic fuel e-methanol. The train connection is extremely important since methanol is transported very well.

If e-fuels present serious advantages in moving away from fossil fuels and France's dependence on petroleum products, they also have detractors. The manufacturing process would require significant quantities of electricity and CO2. They would still be far from meeting the country's energy needs.

The Moselle project should see the light of day in 2026.