5/ Towards an open hydrogen ecosystem

Just like other renewable gas and low-carbon sources, hydrogen will play a major role in reaching the carbon neutral target in an affordable way.

Hydrogen can replace the fossil fuels used in certain carbonintensive industrial processes, particularly in the sectors of chemistry and steel, but also in refining. Hydrogen can also be used as an energy vector for many areas of mobility, particularly heavy mobility, public transport of people and even train transport.

Aside from that, coupled with the development of variable renewable electricity production in Europe and Power to Gas technology, hydrogen will provide a solution for the massive integration of these renewable energies by pairing up various electricity, hydrogen and gas networks.

H2V :

Located in the heart of the port area, the H2V Dunkirk project, currently being developed jointly with ArcelorMittal, will be completed in two phases and on two sites :

• Stage 1 : (200 MW) In November 2022, the project obtained all the prefectural permits needed to start up and produce 28,000 T per year of green hydrogen through electrolysis from 2027.
• Stage 2 : (300 MW) Scheduled for 2029, stage 2 is currently studying the use of electrolysis to produce 42,000 T per year of green hydrogen, helping to avoid 420,000 T of CO2 per year.

• SHYMED – HYNAMICS :

• Green hydrogen distribution and production station

Alongside Hynamics (the EDF group’s hydrogen subsidiary), the Greater Dunkirk Urban Council and the French public financial institution Caisse des Dépôts are undertaking the Shymed project to create a 1.25 MW renewable hydrogen distribution and production station next to Dunkirk’s Energy Recovery Centre. Hydrogen produced using the electrolysis of water will be employed to refuel the first hydrogen-powered vehicles in Dunkirk urban area (electric buses running on hydrogen and refuse collection trucks). From the end of 2024, the station will initially produce 500 kg of hydrogen per day. Subsequently, its production capacity will increase significantly to power other hydrogen vehicles in the territory.

• LITTLE CITHY (ENGIE) :

GRHYD (Network Management for the Injection of Hydrogen to Decarbonise Energies), the 1st Power to Gas project in France, carried out in Cappelle-la-Grande, piloted by ENGIE in association with the Greater Dunkirk Urban Council and 9 other partners, has demonstrated the technical feasibility and environmental pertinence of a greener urban gas, yielding very promising results.

20% hydrogen by volume in natural gas leads to :
↘ – 6% of CO2 emissions (20 T CO2 eq. avoided each year)
↘ -63% CO,
↘ -42% NOx.

• AIR LIQUIDE :

ArcelorMittal and Air Liquide have joined forces to transform the steel production process by developing innovative solutions using low-carbon hydrogen and CO2 capture technologies.

AN OPEN HYDROGEN TRANSPORT NETWORK, THE FIRST STEP TOWARDS THE H2 HUB

DHUNE (Dunkirk Hydrogen Universal Network) :

GRTgaz has developed a hydrogen infrastructure project in the Dunkirk industrial area, with a planned extension to Belgium.

• Stage 1: A hydrogen transport network with pipelines on the port of Dunkirk in order to connect low-carbon hydrogen production and consumption projects (scheduled for commissioning at the end of 2027).
• Stage 2 : Extension of the network to Belgium and the integration of a hydrogen terminal spanning around 50 km in total in the port of Dunkirk, scheduled by 2029. The infrastructure will be used mainly for industrial purposes (replacing coke and natural gas with renewable or low-carbon hydrogen) but could also be used for heavy mobility on roads and waterways.

The equivalent of 1 GW of installed or imported electrolysis capacity could be developed, avoiding the emission of 11.1 Mt CO2 eq/year.