Nantes, France-based renewable energy company Lhyfe, announced that it has raised €50M in its Series A round of funding. The development comes just as Lhyfe inaugurated its first production site in Bouin, Vendee.
CEO & founder of Lhyfe, Matthieu Guesne says, “A year after laying the foundation stone, we are extremely proud to be launching this site, which is symbolic of course for us, but also for what it represents for the energy transition. Our gratitude goes to our five initial partners, who have made this “mad” project to change our energy model possible. Now we have succeeded in this first step, we are ready to move faster.”
The electrolyser installed there runs on wind power generated by on-site turbines. It produces 300 kg a day and is planned to ramp up to a tonne a day in the coming months.
Lhyfe says it has already confirmed some 60 or so projects throughout Europe including a three-region scheme in France that will produce 5 tonnes of green hydrogen a day and supply a network of 20 refueling stations.
Investors
The Series A round was led by SWEN Capital Partners and Banque des Territoires, with additional participation from its original investors.
Speaking on the development, founder Matthieu Guesne says, “We are proud to welcome important players such as SWEN Capital Partners and Banque des Territoires into our equity. The commitment of SWEN Capital Partners to the environment shows that our ecological hydrogen production solution has the capacity to offer a more breathable future to our children. Banque des Territoires confirms the robustness, intelligence, and potential of the Lhyfe model in France, for industry and communities.”
Capital utilisation
The funds will help Lhyfe to support its development internationally, strengthening its teams, and the funding of R&D and new projects.
More specifically, the company intends to create new teams in Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain, and Italy to add to existing ones in France, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, and Portugal. Presently, the firm employs 60 people and expects to double its headcount next year.
In terms of R&D, production from offshore wind turbines will be accelerated, with the implementation of the first hydrogen production demonstrator at sea, at the SEM-REV offshore pilot site, off the coast of Le Croisic from 2022, and the development of new projects.
Local energy sources
Founded in 2017 by Matthieu Guesne, Lhyfe’s aim is to build a more breathable world by making green hydrogen accessible in large quantities and to enter into a more virtuous energy model, oriented towards environmental benefits.
In order to generate renewable and ecological hydrogen (with zero C02 emissions across the entire value chain), Lhyfe deploys a building-block solution that is directly connected to natural renewable sources of energy, like wind power, photovoltaic energy, hydraulic power, solid biomass energy, biogas, geothermal energy, and more. The company claims that its production sites make it possible to source renewable hydrogen in industrial quantities.
Lhyfe’s hydrogen will supply four refuelling stations in western France including La Roche-sur-Yon, which will be operational in the next few days. And about 50 or so heavy vehicles, buses, and refuse collectors will be powered by renewable green hydrogen in Loire-Atlantique, Sarthe, and Vendée at first, then in other French departments, under the VHyGO project in particular.
Additionally, the company will soon reveal the names of other operators that it will be supplying, in industries like steel-making, glass-making, chemical manufacturing, food manufacturing, and electronics, for which hydrogen is essential.
Lhyfe has already raised €70M in funding between 2019 and 2021 and will inaugurate its first industrial green hydrogen production site in a few days’ time.
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