TotalEnergies and industrial gas firm Air Liquide plan to hold public tenders to buy hydrogen for their refuelling venture, Teal mobility, which they launched at the Paris Hyvolution summit today.
"The joint venture will buy hydrogen on the market through open tenders," according to Teal chief executive Florentin de Loppinot. "Air Liquid and TotalEnergies could be the supplier but don't have to be. It will be open and transparent."
He did not say when the tenders will start.
The company will take a mixed approach, buying hydrogen from large-scale centralised plants as well as producing hydrogen with localised on-site electrolysers, which will make some fuel outlets self-sufficient.
The companies want to see a "pragmatic" transition to lower the CO2 intensity of their hydrogen, so as not to inhibit growth of the new sector. The companies currently supply the majority of their hydrogen for refuelling from low and zero carbon sources, but want to make this 100pc by 2030.
"The bottom line is obviously to decarbonize transport but we need a global ecosystem to emerge and that means that you need availability and affordability," Air Products vice president of hydrogen energy world business line Erwin Penfornis said. "We really need different sources because to grow fleets of tens of thousands of trucks needs massive amounts of hydrogen."
The new venture announced last year will launch with 16 stations — four from Air Liquide and 12 from TotalEnergies — and will grow to 20 by the end of the year across France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg and Germany. It has identified a further 30 sites at an earlier stage of planning, as it plans to eventually reach 100 locations by 2030.
Penfornis said the companies plan to invest "hundreds of millions of euros" in the new venture over the long term but hydrogen refueling will need support in the form of tax incentives and direct support for customers buying hydrogen trucks.
The venture is primarily targeting long distance voyages on major transport corridors, with local transport playing a smaller role. It directly responds to the need created by the EU mandate for hydrogen refueling stations, Penfornis said.
TotalEnergies also said last year it plans to use public tenders to buy hydrogen to decarbonise its refineries.
