French electrolyser company Mcphy has taken FID on the construction of a new manufacturing plant at Belfort in northeastern France.

The firm expects to commission the new facility in the first half of 2024.

The production capacity of the plant will be ramped up gradually with the aim of eventually reaching 1GW/yr. Combined with an existing plant at San Miniato in Italy’s Tuscany region, this will give Mcphy a total capacity of 1.3GW/yr, placing it among Europe’s largest producers.

“This gigafactory will be a decisive tool in the development and design of large-scale electrolysers, which are essential for the use of green hydrogen in ambitious decarbonisation projects for industry and heavy mobility,” says Mcphy CEO Jean-Baptiste Lucas

“We will soon have an industrial setup, capable of mass-producing a wide range of electrolysers on a continental scale, that is unmatched by any other player in decarbonised electrolysis in Europe.”

The Belfort project will receive funding from the French government of up to €114mn ($113mn), with an initial payment of €28.5mn due by the end of the year. The state funding was approved earlier this under the EU’s Important Project of Common European Interest scheme, which allows for certain exemptions from normal rules on state aid.

Mcphy is focused on the production of high-pressure alkaline electrolysers. The plant at Belfort will produce systems of 20MW, 100MW and larger, with an output pressure of 30 bar, the company says.

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Author: Stuart Penson