Grey 1, blue 2, yellow 3, pink 4, green 5, white 6... It makes us see all the colors, and yet, hydrogen is an essential ingredient in the decarbonization of mobility and industry, provided that it is itself low-carbon or renewable.
To achieve the climate objectives of the Paris Agreement in 2050, in an uncertain international context, political decision-makers and economic actors are at a key moment in strategic choices. Investing in hydrogen from electrolysis, which does not emit greenhouse gases, as proposed by Hynamics, a subsidiary of the EDF group, is the guarantee of achieving powerful, effective and quantifiable decarbonization.
The urgency of decarbonising mobility and industry, major CO2 emitters
Steel production in France emits around 20 million tonnes of CO2 per year 7, or 5% of the country's total greenhouse gas emissions. These emissions come mainly from the primary production of steel, which is carried out from ore and mainly from coal. The transport sector is the largest emitter of CO2, with more than 20 million tonnes linked to air transport and 5.5 million tonnes to maritime transport 8. In addition, around 400,000 tonnes of carbonaceous hydrogen are currently produced from fossil gas and consumed by French industry, mainly in the chemical and refining sectors, generating 4 million tonnes of CO2 9. Across these sectors, hydrogen produced by water electrolysis will play a key role in achieving our climate goals.
Hynamics, a player in the hydrogen sector confronted with the reality of operating an electrolyzer
Hynamics, a 100% subsidiary of the EDF Group, develops hydrogen production projects by water electrolysis, using renewable and low-carbon electricity, to meet the needs of industry and heavy transport. Created in 2019, Hynamics relies on several decades of research and development within EDF on electrolysis technology, allowing it to fully master this technology and offer its customers a stable and competitive supply of clean hydrogen. This expertise resulted in the commissioning of its first hydrogen production and distribution site in Auxerre in 2021, intended to supply the city's public transport. The operation of this first electrolyser, followed in April 2024 by the one in Belfort, and three others to come in Dunkirk, Cannes and the Paris region in 2025, allows Hynamics to acquire a unique experience in the operation and maintenance of hydrogen production assets by water electrolysis.
Expertise in heavy mobility at the service of large-scale projects in industry
This technological mastery allows Hynamics to develop large-scale projects for industrial sectors described as "difficult to decarbonize", such as chemicals. This is the case of the ABC Ottmarsheim project, which aims to replace part of the fossil hydrogen used by LAT Nitrogen's fertiliser production site in Alsace, one of the 50 French industrial sites with the highest CO2 emissions. Supported by the State, this 50 MW project will make it possible to replace more than 6,500 tonnes of fossil hydrogen per year by 2027. i.e. an annual saving of 48,000 tonnes of CO2. The decarbonization of this site will allow French agriculture to benefit from a fertilizer with a lower environmental impact compared to inputs from fossil fuels that are still largely imported.
The production of synthetic fuels to decarbonise the aviation and maritime sectors
At the same time, Hynamics is developing projects for the production of synthetic fuels, or electrofuels, made from CO2 and low-carbon electricity. These low-carbon fuels have the advantage of being able to be used in existing powertrain systems, particularly when blended with conventional liquid fuels. This is the case of the synthetic kerosene that will be produced by the Take Kair project led by Hynamics in the industrial port area of Saint-Nazaire, in partnership with Axens and IFPEN. This e-kerosene, made from hydrogen produced by a 200 MW electrolyzer and CO2 captured at Holcim's cement plant in Saint-Pierre-La-Cour, will supply the Air France-KLM fleet, enabling the company to meet its European targets for the incorporation of sustainable aviation fuels.
Electrolysis using electricity from the energy mix, the pragmatic solution
The completion and replication of these projects is essential to achieve our climate objectives, in particular by accelerating the electrification of our industrial fabric and heavy transport, with hydrogen produced by water electrolysis as an intermediary. In this respect, Hynamics benefits from its expertise and that of the EDF Group in electricity supply management, in order to ensure that the electricity used meets sustainability criteria according to the energy context of the country where the projects are deployed. The French electricity mix, which is largely decarbonised, is therefore a major asset for project leaders who can benefit from low-carbon and abundant electricity, allowing them to optimise the operation of electrolysers according to technical constraints and consumer needs.
Giving up fossil solutions, out of conviction or coercion
However, despite these advantages, a competitiveness gap remains compared to traditional fossil solutions. To industrialize the production of renewable and low-carbon hydrogen, several levers can be activated to consolidate the economic model. The first is to compensate for the additional cost between fossil hydrogen and hydrogen produced by electrolysis via public subsidies, such as the support mechanism for hydrogen production provided for in the national hydrogen strategy. This solution appears to be particularly relevant for preserving the competitiveness of industries that are highly exposed to international competition, in the face of significant decarbonization costs linked to the development of pioneering projects. The second is to impose binding decarbonisation targets, with financial penalties that are sufficiently dissuasive to encourage economic actors to adopt ambitious decarbonisation solutions. This is particularly the case in Europe in the aeronautics sector and, to a lesser extent, in the maritime sector. In any case, the decarbonisation of our economy through hydrogen will only be viable if European industry and its transporters are protected from carbon-intensive international competition, an issue that is all the more crucial in light of the recent US presidential elections. Hynamics and the EDF Group are fully committed to making renewable and low-carbon hydrogen a lever for industrial and energy sovereignty.
SOURCES
1 Grey hydrogen / carbonaceous hydrogen: production of carbonaceous hydrogen via the steam reforming of natural gas (fossil fuel); A technique using methane to crack the water molecule.
2 Blue hydrogen / low-carbon hydrogen but produced from fossil fuels: production by steam reforming and gasification via coal and natural gas with carbon capture and storage.
3 Yellow hydrogen / low-carbon hydrogen: production by electrolysis via electricity in the grid (energy mix).
4 Pink hydrogen / low-carbon hydrogen: production by electrolysis via electricity from nuclear power.
5 Green hydrogen / renewable hydrogen: production by electrolysis via hydroelectricity and electricity from solar and wind turbines.
6 White hydrogen/natural hydrogen: a natural resource that is not the result of a transformation.