H2V Product invests in a green power-to-gas production plant in Port-Jérôme, 180 jobs wil be created by 2022

H2V Product, a Samfi-Invest owned company based in Paris and focused on electricity generation, will begin its "green" hydrogen production plant in Port-Jérôme. H2V Product plans to build another 7 units of this type in France. A global project of 3.5 billion euros and 16,000 jobs.

The announcement was formalized on Tuesday at the premises of Caux Seine Agglo where H2V Product acquired a 27 ha plot on the industrial area of Port-Jérôme II. Alain Samson, head of Samfi-Invest and Lucien Mallet, founder of H2V Product, aim to revolutionize industrial hydrogen production. "We want to set up a hydrogen production unit using water electrolysis, which will ultimately add up to 100,000 tonnes of CO2," explained the company's founder.

Today, in order to produce hydrogen, current industrial units use massive quantities of hydrocarbons (natural gas, oil, coal). "Our goal is to massively produce hydrogen by electrolysis of water. A method known for a long time, especially for the production of heavy water, but less economical than that using hydrocarbons. Now with taxes that will progressively surround this type of production, our method will become competitive. This is why we are embarking on a large-scale project in order to have an economically viable solution, "insists Lucien Mallet.

A renewable hydrogen production plant which, thanks to its massive production of hydrogen, can also produce methane. in this approach the produced hydrogen reacts with CO2 to produce methane to be injected directly into the Natural gas transmission network. A total of 100,000 tons of CO2 will be involved.

Half of the € 450 million investment is reserved for the production equipment. The technique for electrolysis of water is confidential. The current market for renewable power to gas units by the Norwegian constructor Nel ASA does not exceed 15 units a year. The plant in Port-Jérôme will require nearly 200 units. "Our wish is to implement a transfer of technology with this constructor so that the personnel who assemble the electrolysers will also be involved in the operation".
In the long term, if seven to eight sites such as this one are to be set up in France (a project with 3.5 billion euros and 16,000 jobs), H2V holds a model for proposing Turnkey factories to other European countries.