“We already consume around 100 million tonnes of hydrogen around the world,” said Jean-Baptiste Lucas, general director of McPhy, on Wednesday, as the company inaugurated a gigafactory in Belfort.
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McPhy, a hydrogen specialist, will inaugurate the largest gigafactory on Thursday in Belfort which will manufacture electrolyzers, machines producing hydrogen. “It is the largest electrolyser manufacturing plant in France and one of the largest in Europe.“, says Wednesday June 12 Jean-Baptiste Lucas, general director of McPhy. “The market exists because we already consume around 100 million tonnes of hydrogen worldwide today.“, he continues.
An inauguration which will take place in a particular context, without a prefect, without a minister, due to legislative elections called urgently after the dissolution of the Assembly by Emmanuel Macron.
franceinfo: Does this political context worry you?
It is certain that we regret the absence of the State, but we understand the circumstances. It doesn’t worry me at this point. What we are waiting for is a phase of clarification both at the French level and at the European level, which will allow us to see whether the major energy orientations, and in particular within the framework of the Green Deal, are maintained. .
Are you afraid, if the far right comes to power, that this will call into question the decarbonization of the economy, of industry and therefore of projects like yours, which represents around a hundred million euros of investments? ?
We will wait to see what the outcome of the elections is before drawing conclusions. And we are waiting for this clarification phase and for the vote to take place.
You have benefited from European subsidies. The European Union today announced taxation of nearly 40% of electric vehicles from China. Does this European protectionism promote the development of European industry?
Undeniably, and it is rather good news, to see that a sense of urgency and an awareness of the need to have European industrial sovereignty has prevailed and that a certain number of lessons have been learned unhappy experiences with photovoltaics for example.
Do you see a turnaround in the situation with these kinds of very strong measures being taken today?
In any case, it sends a signal which is important and which allows us to no longer be the only naive one in a club where everyone has adopted this type of behavior for a long time, whether they are the Americans or the Chinese.
You will manufacture electrolysers which make it possible to produce green hydrogen. It requires a lot of water, a lot of electricity.
It requires water and electricity. But we avoid the production of CO2 thanks to green technologies which replace current technologies which emit a lot of CO2.
And today, it is the largest industrial site for electrolyzers in France.
Absolutely. It is the largest electrolyser manufacturing plant in France and one of the largest in Europe.
What are the opportunities ?
The main outlets are industrial segments such as ammonia, steel, e-fuels, and therefore new fuels. The market exists because today we already consume around 100 million tonnes of hydrogen worldwide and, as we just mentioned, the fact of decarbonizing these existing manufacturing processes is a major issue. And so
“Being able to offer a solution that allows green hydrogen to be substituted for gray hydrogen is extremely important for all these industrial sectors.
Jean-Baptiste Lucason franceinfo
The idea today is to show that you have the development capabilities to welcome new customers. Is that right?
Absolutely, because there was a sort of chicken and egg phenomenon where customers were only ready to place orders with us if they were certain that we had the industrial potential to produce the tools, the processes and factories, which is now the case.
You have decided to set up your gigafactory in Belfort. Why this particular territory?
The territory of Belfort welcomed us, benefits from a long industrial history, and has also developed a leading hydrogen ecosystem in the country.
“We also benefited from the public authorities who were very motivated and who knew how to work very quickly with us.”
Jean-Baptiste Lucason franceinfo
Particularly with tax exemptions, with a territory that has proven itself attractive.
Yes, who was able to help us, who was able to provide land, who was able to provide development teams who supported us at all stages of the project. And I want to salute the responsiveness and support of the Grand Belfort teams.
The Belfort region is located close to major industrial customers, such as Germany and Northern Italy.
Absolutely, since the large chemical capacities, and even industrial in the broad sense, are still located in what we call the blue banana around the Rhine and between northern Italy and Amsterdam. So we have direct access to this large industrial zone which concentrates the largest European clients.
With new customers, you hope, in the coming months?
Absolutely, we hope so. We have already signed a first contract and we hope that many more will come. And this is where the support of public authorities continues to be important, since there has been major support for the hydrogen supply aspect and it is important to continue to support the first customers and the major projects which will be pioneers in this field.