Industrial groups push for support in France's National Hydrogen strategy

Electricite de France SA

31/05/2023 07:00

PARIS, May 31 (Reuters) - A call-for-action with over
100 signatories was sent to the French government on Wednesday
to ask that industrial competitiveness is incorporated into the
new National Strategy for Hydrogen, petition-leader France
Hydrogen said.
    The message was sent as a request to develop the strategy in
a way that both aims to reduce the French carbon footprint while
strengthening industry by providing hydrogen as a cheap fuel
source to avoid problems with spiralling costs.
    The new National Strategy for Hydrogen is expected to be
announced around June 13.
    The point of the message is that the government should not
just prioritize decarbonisation but should also focus on
reindustrialization, and maintaining current industry, France
Hydrogen CEO Philippe Boucly said.
    "We want to stop the decline and usher in an era of clean
energy," he added.
    Some 110 signatories joined the petition, including power
giants EDF  EDF.PA  and Engie  ENGIE.PA  and regional
governments such as Nouvelle Aquitane and Occitane in the south,
France Hydrogen said.
    Both the signatory regions have hydrogen projects, as
Nouvelle Aquitaine is set to host a gigafactory and Occitane is
developing renewable hydrogen production. 
    Both regions are looking for support from public authorities
to continue developing and deploying medium-sized projects, a
France Hydrogen spokesperson said.
    France has been developing a hydrogen strategy with its
European neighbours, which are sometimes at odds with France's
desire to use pink hydrogen, or hydrogen produced by nuclear
reactors.

 (Reporting by Forrest Crellin; editing by David Evans)
 ((Forrest.Crellin@thomsonreuters.com;))