TotalEnergies and Air Liquide announce their decision to create an equally owned joint venture to develop a network of hydrogen stations, geared towards heavy duty vehicles on major European road corridors. This initiative will help facilitate access to hydrogen, enabling the development of its use for goods transportation and further strengthening the hydrogen sector.

The partners aim to deploy more than 100 hydrogen stations on major European roads – in France, Benelux and Germany – in the coming years. These stations, under the TotalEnergies brand, will be located on major strategic corridors.

This agreement will lead to the creation of a major player in hydrogen refueling solutions and contribute to the decarbonization of road transportation in Europe. The two companies will combine their know-how and expertise in infrastructure, hydrogen distribution and mobility:

• TotalEnergies will bring its expertise in the operation and management of stations networks and the distribution of energies to BtoB customers;
• Air Liquide will contribute with its expertise in technologies and its mastery of the entire hydrogen value chain.

The joint venture, which will be jointly managed by TotalEnergies and Air Liquide, will invest, build and operate these stations, as well as procure hydrogen from the market and dispense it to its transport customers.

“Following the recent signature of a partnership for the production of renewable and low-carbon hydrogen on our Grandpuits Zero Crude Platform, we are pleased to once again join forces with Air Liquide and continue our common efforts to decarbonize mobility. As pioneers in hydrogen mobility, we are convinced of the necessity to start building now a heavy-duty network that will benefit our customers” says Thierry Pflimlin, President Marketing & Services, TotalEnergies. “This new partnership with Air Liquide will enable us to continue our development across the entire hydrogen value chain.”

Matthieu Giard, Vice President and Executive Committee Member of the Air Liquide Group, supervising the Hydrogen activities, underlines: “Hydrogen offers clear benefits for heavy duty mobility. To promote its widespread use, it is imperative to accelerate the development of refueling infrastructures and to offer vehicle manufacturers and transport operators a sufficiently dense network of stations. It is precisely the ambition of this joint venture, which will benefit from the complementary expertise of Air Liquide and TotalEnergies. As a leader for over 60 years and with unique know-how and technologies, Air Liquide is a major player to accelerate and scale up the development of hydrogen, a key element for the emergence of a low-carbon society.”

The two partners plan to establish their joint venture in 2023, subject to the finalization of the appropriate contractual documentation and to the receipt of the necessary regulatory approvals.