The hydrogen industry, still in its infancy, has a bright future in France in the coming years. The boosting plan announced by the French government envisages €7.2 billion of investment in this energy between now and 2030, including €2 billion in 2021 and 2022. The objective? To provide the national territory with a network of refueling stations with sufficient hydrogen supply to allow the use of hydrogen vehicles. This would involve the creation of refueling stations associated with production and storage units to cover the hydrogen needs of road (cars, buses, coaches, trucks), maritime and rail transport.

The French hydrogen industry still faces many challenges to make the use of hydrogen fuel in heavy mobility profitable: more competitive prices, validation of fuel cell technologies for heavy vehicles still at the prototype stage at several specialized manufacturers, etc.

With no pollutant or carbon dioxide emissions, hydrogen vehicles fit perfectly into the current ecological transition. They are thus exempt from the traffic restrictions that have been tightened over the years in France, as part of the energy renewal of fleets in circulation. Hydrogen-powered vehicles offer the same performance as their combustion counterparts, but are much quieter than their combustion counterparts. They therefore ensure quiet driving in urban areas.

As an indication, the average consumption of the hydrogen engine of a light vehicle allows to travel about 100 kilometers with 1 kilo of this fuel with a range of between 600 and 800 kilometers, which would put them on a par with diesel engine models.

With the acquisition of the DHF hydrogen filling stations, Everfuel has taken an important step towards becoming a key player in the deployment of hydrogen technology in the transport sector in france. With the establishment of the DHF, Strandmøllen, NEL and OK have given a major boost to the introduction of hydrogen in transport. I am looking forward to continuing the work of spreading hydrogen as a propellant in cooperation with the three players, says Jacob Krogsgaard, CEO of Everfuel.