Lhyfe, Chantiers de l’Atlantique sign MoU to develop offshore renewable hydrogen project 

In France, Lhyfe and Chantiers de l’Atlantique have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the development of offshore hydrogen production platforms. Lhyfe has 93 projects in development for production plants in Europe, equating to more than 4.8 GW of total installed capacity. It inaugurated a first industrial production plant in September 2021 and twenty of its projects are at an advanced stage of development (i.e. Tender ready, Awarded or in Construction), representing a total 380.5 MW, due to be operational between 2023 and 2026.

This agreement comes as Lhyfe and Chantiers de l’Atlantique, who have already been working together for 18 months as part of the SEM-REV project on the co-development of a pilot system for offshore hydrogen production, prepare to launch the world’s first offshore renewable hydrogen production demonstrator in September 2022, off the coast of Saint-Nazaire (France).

Chantiers de l’Atlantique, via its Marine Energy & Engineering business unit (Atlantique Offshore Energy) has developed recognized expertise in renewable marine energies. Notably, it has successfully delivered major energy companies on the European market with four offshore electrical substations for offshore wind farms. The desire to be a leader in energy transition has led Chantiers de l’Atlantique to work on the production of offshore hydrogen production over the last three years, to reduce the environmental footprint of the power substations designed and built in Saint-Nazaire.

This agreement aims not only to develop the renewable hydrogen fuel chain at sea, but in port areas as well. For offshore projects, the two partners plan to develop production solutions with a minimum capacity of 100 MW, which will be installed on existing fixed structures, or mounted on seabed foundations or floating platforms.