January 13, 2021

Total and Engie announced on January 13 that they have signed a cooperation agreement to design, develop, build and operate the Masshylia project, France's largest renewable hydrogen production site at Châteauneuf-les-Martigues in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur South region.

Located at the heart of Total's La Mède bio refinery and powered by solar farms with a total capacity of more than 100 MW, the 40 MW electrolyser will produce 5 tonnes of green hydrogen per day to meet the needs of the biofuel production process at Total's La Mède bio refinery, avoiding 15,000 tonnes of CO₂ emissions per year.

An innovative management solution for the production and storage of hydrogen will be implemented to manage the intermittent production of solar electricity and the bio refinery's need for continuous hydrogen supply.

The Masshylia project has been labelled as innovative and of great interest to the region by several regional institutions (Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur South Region, Métropole Aix-Marseille-Provence, Capenergies competitiveness cluster). It benefits from the support of local actors for its ability to reduce CO₂ emissions and demonstrate the economic advantages of renewable hydrogen and its integration into the local ecosystem and at the European level.

The two partners aim to begin construction of the facilities in 2022, following the completion of the advanced engineering study, with a view to production in 2024, subject to the necessary financial support and public authorizations. To this end, the project has already applied for subsidies from the French (AMI) and European authorities (IPCEI, Innovation Fund).

(IRuniverse)