France still needs renewables for green hydrogen rollout – Lhyfe

Country’s buildout of renewables must continue despite ability to meet EU green criteria through use of nuclear power, French developer argues

France will still need to build out renewable power to facilitate green hydrogen projects, despite the electricity grid’s heavy reliance on nuclear, says Matthieu Guesne, CEO of French hydrogen developer Lhyfe. The European Commission recently published rules that would remove the ‘additionality’ requirements for green hydrogen in power bidding zones in countries with power grids emission intensity of electricity lower than 18g of CO₂e/MJ. France’s nationwide bidding zone meets this criteria, thanks largely to a nuclear fleet that provides more than two-thirds of the country’s power, Guesne says. But projects in France would still need to sign power-purchase agreements with renewable produce