Siemens and Air Liquide in hydrogen partnership

French industrial gases and services specialist Air Liquide and Germany-based energy technology company Siemens Energy entered a partnership for sustainable hydrogen production.

The companies signed a memorandum of understanding with the goal to combine their expertise in PEM (proton exchange membrane) electrolysis technology.

The companies will jointly apply for large projects funding under the EU’s Green Deal and Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI)-scheme for hydrogen, funded by the French and German Governments.

The key focus areas of the partnership are:

• Co-creation of large industrial-scale hydrogen projects in collaboration with customers;
• Laying the ground for mass manufacturing of electrolyzers in Europe, especially in Germany and France;
• Research and development activities to co-develop next-generation electrolyzer technologies.

Chairman and CEO of Air Liquide Benoît Potier said: “Hydrogen is a key enabler of the energy transition. In the context of an unprecedented acceleration in Europe of hydrogen technologies and markets, the time to scale-up is now, notably in France and Germany. The partnership between Air Liquide and Siemens Energy paves the way for the creation of a leading European ecosystem capable of supplying decarbonised hydrogen at competitive prices and promoting the emergence of a low-carbon society. We look forward to this Franco-German cooperation”.

CEO of Siemens Energy Christian Bruch said: “Building up a sustainable Hydrogen economy will still require to amend the framework conditions in the energy market. However, it will be through partnerships and collaboration that we can shape this market. We highly appreciate to co-create innovative solutions with Air Liquide. Collectively we will overcome the challenges that lie ahead to industrialize the technology and make sustainably generated hydrogen a success story”.

The goal of this cooperation is for the companies to strengthen their core competencies enabling the emergence of a sustainable hydrogen economy in Europe.

One of the opportunities is the Air Liquide-H2V Normandy project in France with a capacity of 200 megawatts.