TotalEnergies and Air Liquide to create hydrogen station network
Photo courtesy of Air Liquide

TotalEnergies and Air Liquide to create hydrogen station network

TotalEnergies and Air Liquide will create a 50-50 joint venture to develop a network of hydrogen stations, geared towards heavy-duty vehicles on  major European road corridors. 

The partners aim to deploy more than 100 hydrogen stations on major European roads—in France,  Benelux and Germanyin the coming years. These stations, under the TotalEnergies brand, will be  located on major strategic corridors.  

Their initiative will help facilitate access to hydrogen, enabling the  development of its use for goods transportation and further strengthening the hydrogen sector in Europe.

The agreement will lead to the creation of a major player in hydrogen refueling solutions and contribute  to the decarbonisation of road transportation in Europe. The two companies will combine their know how and expertise in infrastructure, hydrogen distribution and mobility.

  • TotalEnergies will bring its expertise in the operation and management of stations networks and  the distribution of energies to business-to-business customers;  
  • Air Liquide will contribute with its expertise in technologies and its mastery of the entire hydrogen value chain.  

The joint venture, which will be jointly managed by TotalEnergies and Air Liquide, will invest, build and  operate these stations, as well as procure hydrogen from the market and dispense it to its transport  customers.  

“Following the recent signature of a partnership for the production of renewable and low-carbon  hydrogen on our Grandpuits Zero Crude Platform, we are pleased to once again join forces with  Air Liquide and continue our common efforts to decarbonise mobility. As pioneers in hydrogen mobility,  we are convinced of the necessity to start building a heavy-duty network that will benefit our  customers,” says Thierry Pflimlin, president, Marketing & Services, TotalEnergies. “This new  partnership with Air Liquide will enable us to continue our development across the entire hydrogen value  chain.”  

“Hydrogen offers clear benefits for heavy-duty mobility. To promote its widespread use, it is imperative to accelerate the development of refueling  infrastructures and to offer vehicle manufacturers and transport operators a sufficiently dense network  of stations. It is precisely the ambition of this joint venture, which will benefit from the complementary  expertise of Air Liquide and TotalEnergies. As a leader for over 60 years and with unique know-how and  technologies, Air Liquide is a major player to accelerate and scale up the development of hydrogen, a  key element for the emergence of a low-carbon society,” said Matthieu Giard, vice president and executive committee member of the Air Liquide Group,  supervising the company’s hydrogen activities.

The two partners plan to establish their joint venture in 2023, subject to the finalization of the appropriate  contractual documentation and to the receipt of the necessary regulatory approvals.