Gen-Hy obtains €100 million from the State to create France’s first AEM membranes and electrolysers factory for the production of green hydrogen in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region
On the occasion of tomorrow’s visit by Industry and Energy Minister Marc Ferracci to the Gen-Hy site in Allenjoie (Doubs), the French start-up offering innovative solutions for the production of green hydrogen has announced the signature with Bpifrance of a €99.84m public aid contract by the French government. The contract is for the construction of France’s first AEM (Anion Exchange Membrane) membranes and electrolysers production industry in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region. The Gen-Hy plant project was approved by the European Commission in May 2024 as part of the fourth wave of the Hy2Move Hydrogen IPCEI (Important Project of Common European Interest). (1)
Sébastien Le Pollès, CEO of Gen-Hy, comments:
We are honored by the French government’s support for our project, and particularly by the Prime Minister François Bayrou.
“We are delighted with this award, which will enable us to accelerate the development and mass production of our high-efficiency electrolyser technology. France is thus reducing its strategic dependence on rare materials“.
In partnership with Eiffage Energie Systèmes and Saint-Gobain Solutions Haute Performance, Gen-Hy has become a major player in the production of renewable green hydrogen to support the decarbonization of the industry, mobility and energy sectors.
Nicolas Miègeville, Managing Director of Saint-Gobain Ceramics, adds:
With Gen-Hy, we share the same vision: to create unique solutions to meet the challenges of the green hydrogen market.
“This French and European support is a real boost to accelerate the launch of innovative technologies!”. Commissioning of the future plant, which has already broken ground at the Allenjoie site in the Montbéliard region, is scheduled for Q1 2026, with an annual production capacity of 350 AEM electrolyser units (with a production capacity that varies between 100 kW and 2 MW) as it ramps up. The site is expected to create 150 jobs over 4 years, rising to 250 on the longer term.
The AEM electrolysers developed by Gen-Hy incorporate its unique AEM membrane technology with catalytic deposits free of rare earth materials, making Gen-Hy the only company in the world to produce all the hydrogen production chain components from the AEM membrane and the catalysts, to the Zero-Gap stack and the complete balance of plants assembly under the same roof. This patented technology enables low-cost, high-purity green hydrogen to be produced by electrolysis, with efficiency targets of 85% in phase 1 and 90% in phase 2.
(1) The Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI) is a European mechanism designed to promote innovation in strategic, forward-looking industrial fields through transnational European projects. This mechanism authorizes the public authorities of member states to finance initiatives beyond the limits usually set by European regulations on state aid. A Hydrogen IPCEI was launched on December 17, 2020. This fourth “Hy2Move” project aims to support the manufacture of equipment and the decarbonization of uses linked in particular to hydrogen mobility.
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Gen-Hy obtains €100 million from the State to create France’s first AEM membranes and electrolysers factory for the production of green hydrogen in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region
