Building the future of renewable hydrogen in Normand’Hy
Port-Jérôme, France
Your Guides:
[ Rahim Salemkour ], Project Director, Air Liquide, [ Mathieu Cavélius ], Business Developer, Air Liquide, [ Liliane Herculano ], Project Manager, Air Liquide
"This is where Air Liquide’s electrolyzer will be built,” indicates Rahim Salemkour, Project Director. “It is scheduled to be commissioned in 2025 and will be the largest in the world.” We are in Port-Jérôme, a small town in a region of Normandy, France, that is known for its industrial prowess.
In front of us, construction is underway at the site that will soon be home to the Group’s new renewable hydrogen production unit. “Air Liquide Normand’Hy is a large-scale electrolyzer with an initial capacity of 200 megawatts,” Rahim explains. This is equivalent to the average annual electricity consumption of more than 235,000 French households. “We will be able to produce up to 28,000 tons of hydrogen per year here through water electrolysis, which is a production process that uses electricity to ‘break’ purified water molecules in order to separate the hydrogen from the oxygen.”
Air Liquide Normand’Hy is the corner-stone of a project aimed at decarbonizing this industrial basin, which Air Liquide is implementing alongside other major industrial players in the region. The strong level of interest in the project means it has also garnered the backing of the French government as part of an Important Project of Common European Interest.(1)
“To enable this kind of large-scale production of renewable hydrogen,” states Rahim, “the Group has entered a joint venture with Siemens Energy to develop large-capacity electrolyzers. This will allow us to pool our technology and expertise in proton-exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysis.” This Franco-German partnership is crucial for the development of a European hydrogen sector, which Air Liquide is spearheading.