French construction company Vinci, alongside partners TotalEnergies and Air Liquide, has launched a huge investment fund to look into the development of green hydrogen.
Green hydrogen. Photo: Scharfsinn / Shutterstock
Green hydrogen is likely to play a vital role in the energy transition, helping decarbonise sectors such as automotive, construction, aviation, and energy. Credit: Scharfsinn / Shutterstock
With plans to pool around €1.5 billion in funds across various major businesses in the Americas, Europe and Asia, this stands to be one of the largest single renewable hydrogen pushes in industry.
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The fund has already generated €800 million which could help the partners launch large-scale hydrogen plants to help invest in the entire green hydrogen value chain.
Each company has pledged €100 million towards the project and it is currently working alongside other industrial players, such as Baker Hughes, Lotte Chemical, Axa and EDF Energy.
Vinci's involvement likely comes as part of its plans to actively reduce carbon emissions. The company is looking to become completely net-zero by 2050 and hoping to reduce emissions by 40% by the end of the decade.
The company recently acquired ACS Energy and the 15GW of renewable energy in its portfolio.
The fund is set to be managed by Hy241, a joint venture between Ardian and FiveT. It is expected the scheme will soon begin looking into hydrogen products to invest in.
By the end of the project, the estimated portfolio will have a net worth of around €15 billion.
"By launching this investment fund today, hand in hand with other major industry leaders, we keep moving forward to make green hydrogen a strong lever in achieving our objectives”, said Vinci boss Xavier Huillard.
Benoît Potier, Air Liquide's CEO and chairman, said: "Hydrogen has become a central element of the energy transition. The time to act is now, not only as companies on a stand-alone basis, but by joining forces with states, other industry groups and the financial community.
"With the creation of this fund, we are demonstrating our leadership to participate in a collective dynamic to build momentum. As Air Liquide, we have already committed to invest approximately €8 billion in the low-carbon hydrogen supply chain by 2035.
"Our objective is to contribute to the development of the entire value chain from low-carbon hydrogen production to end-uses, investing in the necessary infrastructure with storage and distribution projects. Accelerating on Hydrogen development is key to mitigate climate change.”
TotalEnergies' CEO Patrick Pouyanné said green hydrogen will play "a key role in the energy transition" and that his company want to be at the forefront for production.
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The company has made pledges to phase out grey hydrogen at its European plants by 2030 in a bid to deliver on emissions targets laid out by the EU.
"We are convinced that a collective effort is needed to kick-start the hydrogen sector and take it to scale", he concluded.
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