After a year of land development work and equipment assembly, Haffner Energy inaugurated its hydrogen production, testing and training center (80 employees; 2023 turnover: €303,000) at the end of November, in Marolles , in the Marne. The objective of the site is to produce renewable gas and hydrogen, to carry out tests on diversified biomasses and to train the company's customers and employees. Haffner Energy is located in Vitry-le-François, in Marne and operates in the production of energy and biomass.
More than a million euros in aid
Labeled France 2030 and Territoires d'Industrie, the project benefits from more than one million euros in public funding, including €400,000 via the “Green Fund – Territories of Industry in Ecological Transition” financed by the State and operated by Ademe; €500,000 via the regionalized France 2030 program; €45,351 via the National Fund for Preventive Archeology (FNAP) for carrying out archaeological excavations by Inrap and €88,655 by the Community of Communes of Vitry, Champagne and Der, in the form of aid for real estate investment for the acquisition of 1.5 hectares of land in Marolles. The total cost of the project is not communicated by Haffner Energy.
Haffner Energy is located in the Marne, in Vitry-le-François — Photo: Sandy B Photographer
120 tonnes of hydrogen per year
Intended to operate continuously for 8,000 hours per year, the Haffner Energy center began producing renewable gas (syngas) in June 2024. The start of hydrogen production should take place in the coming weeks. “15 kg/hour of mobility quality hydrogen will be produced and marketed, or nearly 120 tonnes per year which will contribute to the decarbonization of mobility and industry. This corresponds to the equivalent of 12 million kilometers traveled with hydrogen vehicles,” explains Haffner Energy in a press release.
Two key pieces
“Marolles presents the very latest version of our renewable gas and hydrogen production modules,” says Marc Haffner, founder with his brother Philippe of the start-up and deputy general manager in charge of the company's technology. The site has two “centerpieces,” according to the company. On one side, the new generation thermolysis module. This is equipment for transforming all types of biomass into renewable synthetic gas, accompanied by its solid co-product, biocarbon. “This site probably presents the first unit in the world for the continuous production of hydrogen from solid biomass,” comments Philippe Haffner, CEO of the company. The module installed in Marolles would make it possible to process around 450 kg of material per hour, according to the company's estimates.
The Marolles center was inaugurated in November — Photo: Sandy B Photographer
Secondly, the center is equipped with a “Gasiliner”. The patented equipment makes it possible to gasify carbon, to increase the production of syngas. “Gasiliner has the unique property of being compatible with all types of biomass, particularly those whose ashes are pasty and sticky due to a low melting temperature, which is the case for most agricultural residues,” explains the company. The site also includes a TEPC (Treatment Purification Purification Compression), to convert syngas into mobility quality hydrogen.
Continuous improvement
The Marolles site is also a testing center. Tests will be carried out on different types of unconventional biomass supplied by the company's customers and prospects, such as algae, cereal straw, manure, industrial or sewage treatment plant sludge, or even municipal waste. .
The site is also a testing center — Photo: Sandy B Photographer
From a technological point of view, the continuous operation of the site's equipment should make it possible to strengthen their reliability: sensors have been installed on the parts to monitor their long-term behavior. “The objective is to be able to anticipate future maintenance operations by precisely identifying the checks and maintenance operations to be carried out,” specifies the company. Finally, the center should make it possible to train Haffner Energy employees and customers in the operation and maintenance of the company's equipment. “Welcoming and training our customers from all over the world on our own site, and presenting them with the range of our know-how, constitutes a major turning point,” believes Philippe Haffner. The start-up is indeed established globally, and recently announced the creation of an entity in the United States.
