Energy from biomass: Haffner Energy’s solution chosen by a consortium of industrial players for an ambitious green hydrogen project in the Doubs region

Haffner Energy continues to make progress in its efforts to support the energy transition of local communities. Its HYNOCA® solution, based on its unique biomass thermolysis technology, has been chosen by a consortium of industrial players to equip NedE'Hy. This ambitious project for the production and distribution of green hydrogen from sustainable agroforestry biomass residues is supported by a consortium of local players led by car dealer Nedey Automobiles, and will be based in Brognard (Doubs). This process, developed and mastered by Haffner Energy, is the main technological block of the future site.

A project born of the collective intelligence of a local ecosystem

This project for a green hydrogen production and distribution station was submitted to ADEME for financial support as part of the call for territorial hydrogen ecosystem projects (EcosysH2). Indeed, the new version of this call for projects, launched last May and endowed with a budget of 175 million euros, now offers projects for the production of renewable hydrogen from sustainable biomass the opportunity to apply for government support as part of France 2030. The consortium of industrialists includes mainly local players such as Nedey, future distributor of the green hydrogen produced by the station, Pays de Montbéliard Agglomération*, a regional player committed to the region's energy transition, and the Swiss group Corbat, a player in the wood industry and producer of locally sourced biomass. Alongside them, other local authorities and regional SMEs have expressed their interest in joining the consortium or using the green hydrogen produced.

Their approach highlights the possibility for players from a wide range of sectors to work together towards a common ambition: to create and supply green hydrogen to a new local ecosystem free of fossil fuels.

The advantage of this location is not only its proximity to the Corbat Group sawmill: many industrial players are Hydrogen consumers in the Technoland business park. The plant will also be located 150m from the A36 freeway exit. The Bourgogne Franche-Comté region is home to many innovative industrial players in the hydrogen and mobility sector.

Haffner Energy's HYNOCA® solution for local, circular and sustainable solutions

Biomass thermolysis is a technology developed by Haffner Energy and protected by 15 patent families. It is the result of know-how mastered by Haffner Energy for over 30 years. The process is constantly being perfected, and is already available in three versions: SYNOCA®, for the production of low-carbon synthesis gas, SAFNOCA® for the production of renewable aviation fuel (SAF), and HYNOCA®, the solution dedicated to the production of green hydrogen. HYNOCA® was chosen by the industrialists as part of the project, both for its energy and ecological virtues (the process, thanks to the co-production of biochar, has a negative carbon footprint) and its ability to be part of a local dynamic.

With this project, Haffner Energy confirms its ability to be a first-rate partner in the development of projects as ambitious as the one in Brognard. A project for the production and distribution of green hydrogen that can be replicated wherever biomass is available and can be exploited, creating a circular and virtuous economic model.

Haffner Energy would like to thank the Nedey Group, a major player in mobility in Burgundy-Franche-Comté, for its confidence, and the Burgundy-Franche-Comté Region and Pays de Montbéliard Agglomération for their constant support since the launch of the project.

Haffner Energy is delighted to be taking part in this project, which enables us to reaffirm our ambition: to enable the production of renewable energy that is accessible everywhere and to everyone.

* The Agglomération has committed to acquiring refuse collection vehicles and 7 hydrogen-powered buses to be fuelled on site.