en.Wedoany.com Report on Mar 30th, The European Commission has recently approved a total of €144 million in funding to support the construction of a 50 MW green and pink hydrogen project at the site of a major chemical and fertilizer company in France. The funds will be allocated to HyforSeeds, a subsidiary of Hynamics, part of the EDF Group, which plans to develop electrolytic hydrogen production capacity at LAT Nitrogen's plant in Ottmarsheim-Chalampé.

If the project proceeds smoothly, it will utilize renewable energy and nuclear power to produce hydrogen, which is expected to replace approximately 15% of the grey hydrogen currently used by LAT Nitrogen. The direct grant will cover part of the investment costs for electrolyzer construction and other infrastructure. According to the European Commission's estimates, the project has the potential to reduce CO2 emissions by over 46,000 tons annually.

Commissioner for Competition, Teresa Ribera, stated: "This funding will promote the application of green and low-carbon hydrogen in ammonia and fertilizer production. Replacing grey hydrogen consumption in areas like ammonia production is considered one of the effective pathways for developing clean hydrogen." A recent report by the International Energy Agency noted that most current fixed offtake agreements for clean hydrogen are concentrated in the industrial supply sector.

European green ammonia producers are facing competitive pressure from low-cost foreign suppliers. For example, German companies Uniper and RWE have signed major offtake contracts with AM green for its Kakinada ammonia project in India. However, France's nuclear power resources are expected to provide more economical baseload electricity support for large-scale hydrogen projects.

Earlier this week, Brussels also approved a French subsidy scheme aimed at supporting up to 1 GW of green and nuclear-powered hydrogen production capacity. Globally, about one-third of fertilizer supply is affected by the situation in the Middle East and shipping issues in the Strait of Hormuz, highlighting the importance of domestic hydrogen production.