The announcement by Bercy this Thursday morning of three industrial projects in Le Havre for an amount of 2.6 billion euros contrasts with the various social plans planned at Michelin or even at Auchan. Three companies, Livista Energy, Air Products and Qair, will develop a lithium refinery in the Normandy city, a renewable hydrogen import site and a hydrogen and methanol production and storage project by 2026-2029 , according to the ministry.
And no less than three ministers, Antoine Armand, François Durovray and Catherine Vautrin, respectively in charge of the Economy, Finance and Industry, Transport, and Decentralization, are expected in the city in the morning to greet these future installations.
By 2028-2029, these three companies will establish themselves in the port basin over an area of 60 hectares. Livista Energy, based in the capital of Luxembourg, will invest 1.2 billion euros, over 30 hectares, in a chemical refinery for the production of battery-grade lithium from primary and recycled materials. An activity which is currently dominated by Asian countries. In total, this structure should ultimately accommodate 220 jobs.
For its part, Air Products, the American world leader in industrial gases, will import renewable hydrogen. The planned investment is 1.1 billion euros over around fifteen hectares and should employ nearly 270 employees. Air Products is already the leading supplier of green hydrogen to French company TotalEnergies for its decarbonization projects at its European refineries.
Finally, Qair, the Montpellier (Hérault) company, will invest 500 million euros in a production and storage unit for renewable hydrogen and methanol to supply maritime and air transport customers. 150 jobs should also be created.
A new future for brownfields
For several years now, the government's idea has been to reuse industrial wastelands in port areas for projects promoting the energy transition. These three companies responded to a call for projects launched by the river-sea port on the Seine axis, Haropa, which brings together the ports of Le Havre, Rouen and Paris.
In France, according to the Ministry of Territorial Partnership, nearly 1,500 hectares of industrial land are available in Le Havre, Marseille and Dunkirk. “As part of France 2030, we are mobilizing land on 50 sites to make so-called turnkey land available to businesses, with support from the State for simplified procedures,” specified the ministry.
