Hydrogen pathways in France: Results of the HyFrance3 Project

The HyFrance Group was originally formed in France to support the European project HyWays, by providing (former projects HyFrance1 and HyFrance2) the French data and possible hydrogen pathways according to the national specificities. HyFrance3 is a new project that focuses on the economic competitiveness of different steps of the hydrogen chain, from the production to the end use, at the time horizon of 2030 in France. HyFrance3 is a 10 partners' project coordinated by the CEA. The project addresses the present and future French hydrogen industrial markets for chemical and refinery uses, the analysis of the interplay between wind energy production and storage of hydrogen for different automotive requirements (refuelling stations, biofuel plants, Hydrogen/Natural Gas mix), the massive hydrogen storage to balance various supply and demand characteristics, and the supply network (pipeline option competitiveness vs. trucked in supply) to distribute hydrogen in a French region for automotive applications. Technical and economical issues are addressed. The future industrial hydrogen demand in France will be over 106 t/year ca. 2030, and could be doubled if there is a use for reduction in the steel industry. If hydrogen is produced by electrolysis from wind energy systems, the costs vary from ca. 4 to 20 /kg, depending strongly on the type of demand and the connexion rate to the grid. At a French regional scale, hydrogen use for transports needs mass storage (at least 103 t) to balance a constant supply and a seasonal demand, the corresponding transport and distribution up to 2050 require pipelines and the costs could be limited to the reasonable values ca. 0.4-0.6 /kg. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.