Provided by Crédit Agricole and the state-backed investment bank Bpifrance, the financing will support the construction of the facility in Port-La Nouvelle, Occitanie.

Additional indirect support will likely come through EU funding for the wider hydrogen corridor network in the region.

The initiative is expected to power a regional hydrogen mobility network, including the Narbonne and Béziers stations currently being constructed. In total, five refuelling stations across the Occitanie region will be fuelled by Hyd’Occ.

The project’s first phase is scheduled to deliver 2,700 tonnes of hydrogen per year, before it doubles to 20MW and 5,400 tonnes in its second phase.

Furthermore, offtake agreements have been secured with Plug Power and local player Hydromer for more than 1,500 tonnes of hydrogen per year.

Earlier this year, the Renewables Infrastructure Group (Trig) was awarded a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) to provide electricity from two of its French wind farms for Hyd’Occ.

H2 View understands that the project will be the largest renewable hydrogen production facility in France, potentially generating 40% of the country’s hydrogen.