The French government has announced Hydrozere, eM-Rhône and FertHySomme as the first three winners of its hydrogen scheme. This 15-year hydrogen production support mechanism is a key component of the National Hydrogen Strategy and aims to promote decarbonized hydrogen production for direct industrial uses. The selection of these three industrial projects amounting to 161.4 MW of electrolysis capacity and worth €778m is the first step towards the national objective of about 1 GW of installed capacity.
A call for tenders was launched in December 2025, and six bids were submitted, from which these three projects have been selected. Hydrozere is a 5 MW electrolyser supported by Engie Solutions H2 and will be used for steel annealing at ArcelorMittal’s Saint-Chély-d’Apcher. Meanwhile, eM-Rhône is Elyse Energy’s 61.1 MW electrolyser used to produce decarbonised methanol in Salaise-sur-Rhône and FertHySomme is Fertighy’s 95.3 MW electrolyser to be used for low-carbon fertilisers at Languevoisin-Quiquery.
