Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne announced Wednesday a first list of 10 projects selected to create a “sovereign sector” decarbonized hydrogen production in France and hope to make the country a world leader in this field.
“With hydrogen, we will be able to massively decarbonize our economy, including the most consuming sectors such as the steel industry or heavy mobility. We will improve our carbon balance. We will be able to create a new industry, synonymous with sustainable jobs and energy independence,” said Borne, after visiting the research and development site of automotive supplier Plastic Omnium in Venette near Compiègne (Oise).
These new plants will be located in seven regions and will create nearly 5,200 direct jobs in France, said the Prime Minister, who was accompanied by Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire, Energy Transition Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher, Minister Delegate for Industry Roland Lescure and Secretary of State for
Europe Laurence Boone.
The sector could generate more globally the creation of 100 to 150,000 jobs by 2030, according to the head of government.
Plastic Omnium is one of the winners of this first wave of projects and will build a hydrogen tank production site in Venette.
This project represents an investment of 160 million euros between 2022 and 2028, with 150 jobs at stake. It is one of 10 French projects selected by the European Commission to receive public funding under the Piiec programs (Important Project of Common European Interest) to support breakthrough industries and research.
In total, these ten projects will be supported with 2.1 billion euros of public funds, which will accompany 3.2 billion private investments, for a total of 5.3 billion euros. These 2.1 billion are part of the 9 billion committed since 2020 in the hydrogen strategy, financed in particular by the France Relance and France 2030 plans, said Matignon.
