Floating wind and green hydrogen - fostering future Scottish-French research and development collaboration: report

Policy and innovation frameworks: France

Policy context

The energy transition roadmap in France is governed by the overall strategy stated in the Low Carbon National Strategy (‘Stratégie nationale bas-carbone’, ^[29]). First introduced in 2015 and later revised to include the more ambitious strategy resulting from the Paris Agreement, i.e. carbon neutrality by 2050, the document is a roadmap towards CO₂ emission reductions and provides specific targets within each sector. The document suggests using hydrogen as a way of reducing emissions for the transport sector (air, marine and road) and identifies the use of hydrogen as a possible solution to reduce emissions from the chemical and steel industries but does not provide a specific framework for green hydrogen development.

This overarching strategy is deployed in a more specific plan for the energy sector in the Multiannual Energy Programme (‘Programmation Pluriannuelle de l’Energie’, ^[30]). This document, updated every five years, sets out a roadmap for the evolution of the French energy mix at short and medium term, for example, the latest edition from April 2020 covers the periods 2019-2023 and 2024-2028. The previous edition in 2016 included the first specific targets for Marine Renewables Energy (floating wind, tidal, etc.): at least 100 MW capacity should be installed by the end of 2023 – with awarded projects at this date totalling between 200 MW and 2 GW, depending on price conditions and lessons learned from pilot farms. This resulted in the tender and award of four pilot floating wind farms, currently under development. In addition, the 2020 edition states that tenders will be released for utility-scale development of floating wind farms as follows: 250 MW in South Brittany in 2021 (tendered at a price of 120 €/MWh), two 250 MW projects in the Mediterranean Sea in 2022 (tendered at a price of 110 €/MWh), and then 1 GW of offshore wind per year between 2024 and 2028, either fixed or floating depending on prices and sites availability. The strategy for low-carbon hydrogen sets the following targets: 10% of green hydrogen in the national mix of hydrogen used by the industry in 2023, then 20-40% by 2028. In addition, the ambition for hydrogen-powered vehicles is to reach 5,000 light vehicles and 200 heavy vehicles by 2023, and then 20,000-50,000 and 800-2,000 respectively by 2028. This ambition is translated in terms of number of filling stations nationwide as follows: from approximately 30 at the end of 2019 to 100 by 2023, then 400 to 1,000 by 2028. These commitments represent very significant volumes of hydrogen demand over the coming decade.

These national targets for green hydrogen development are further developed in the Hydrogen Plan (‘Plan Hydrogène’, ^[4]). This seven-billion-euro investment plan sets up three priorities for green hydrogen development in France by 2030: to reduce industrial carbon footprint with a French electrolysis supply chain, develop heavy transport powered with green hydrogen, and support research, development and demonstration, as well as skills development to enhance future uses of low-carbon hydrogen. The plan is developed following several funding schemes (Table 2).

Key public players in the combined floating wind-green hydrogen sector at national level have been identified:

• The Ministry of Ecological Transition is in charge of establishing, reviewing and editing the programmes and laws governing the main national policies regarding floating offshore and green hydrogen development, e.g. Hydrogen Plan, Multiannual Energy Plan.
• The French Agency for Ecological Transition (ADEME) is a public agency under the joint authority of the Ministry for an Ecological Transition and the Ministry for Higher Education, Research and Innovation. The ADEME is in charge of coordinating several research and development funding and calls for projects, for instance in the context of the Hydrogen Plan.
• The French National Research Agency (ANR) is a public administrative institution under the authority of the French Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation. Since 2010, the ANR is in charge of managing the research and development national investment for the Futures programme. Ongoing research and development projects funded by the ANR and relevant to our study include CREATIF, which focuses on control and real time simulation of floating wind turbines and their integration to the grid, and EPIC-H2, concerning modelling and control of microbial consortium for green hydrogen production.
• The newly-founded National Hydrogen Council aims at guaranteeing an efficient communication between the French State and the main industrial stakeholders of the green hydrogen development. Its members have been approved by the relevant ministries, including the Ministry of Ecological Transition and the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation. At the time of writing, the council’s co-presidents are Patrick Koller (Faurecia’s Managing Director) and Benoit Potier (Air Liquide’s chief executive officer).
• The French regional governments and authorities also play a key role in developing and implementing energy strategies, as well as in distributing European and national funding. Regional development agencies also work with private organisations in public-private partnerships in order to deliver innovation activities. The central role for the French regions is evident in a number of important areas of note to this study:
• Régions de France is an institution that represents the French regions’ common interests. Established in 1998, it is one of the primary organisations championing French political decentralisation and encouraging the realisation of schemes that will deliver positive development outcomes in the regions. Notably, the delivery of the French energy transition (transition énergétique) is a central priority for the organisation, as highlighted in Figure 3.

• Regional roadmaps for hydrogen deployment have been developed to varying degrees of detail in Brittany, Pays de la Loire, Occitanie and Normandie. The Brittany roadmap introduced by the Department for Climate, Environment, Water and Biodiversity (‘Direction du Climat, de l’Environnement, de l’Eau et de la Biodiversité’), for example, details plans to develop logistics capacity and supply chain competencies, particularly in the maritime contexts and with a specific focus on floating components and infrastructure ^[31]. Normandie is also very active in this sector and was the first region to develop a hydrogen roadmap in 2018, with a €15 m fund spread over 3 years aiming to accelerate the energy transition.
• In floating wind, a recently announced partnership between four littoral regions (Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Occitanie, Brittany, and Pays de la Loire) will pursue the introduction of a supportive, collaborative ecosystem and industry development programme to facilitate growing wind farm deployments. This collaborative arrangement will focus on coordination activities between supply chain organisations in the four regions, as well as providing financial investments ^[32].

In the public sector, other key stakeholders include research institutes active in the floating wind and green hydrogen sectors:

• The French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) is active in research, development and demonstration in low carbon energies. In particular the CEA has studied hydrogen and fuel cells since the late 1980s, aiming to increase the economic interest of this energy option, and to be at the leading edge of hydrogen technology, supporting industrial companies.
• The French National Centre for Scientific Research has led the creation of the FRH2 federation: the Hydrogen Research Federation. With more than 270 research workers from 28 different laboratories, the FRH2’s mission is to gather and coordinate research efforts for the development of green hydrogen, its cleansing and storage and progress towards fully-integrated systems covering production to end-use through fuel cells.
• The French Institute of Petroleum and Renewable Energies has released in 2019 the results of a joint research effort with SINTEF, a Norwegian research centre: 'Hydrogen for Europe'. The study aims to identify existing knowledge for the production and distribution of 'low-emission energy carriers' and assess the potential of hydrogen in Europe.
• France Energies Marine, the French institute for energy transition dedicated to offshore renewable energies, is a public-private body working in collaboration with seven other institutes for energy transition and eight technological research institutes. As the main French research institute for offshore renewable energies, France Energies Marines is active in several floating wind Joint Industry Projects.

Trade associations gather private sector stakeholders in each sector:

• For hydrogen in general and green hydrogen in particular, the French Association for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells (France Hydrogène) acts as the main contact between public decision makers and its members, which comprise large industry companies, small to medium enterprises, and start-ups across the hydrogen value chain. The prospective study ‘Developing Hydrogen for the French Economy’ ^[33] led by the association, offers an interesting view of the ambitions of the private stakeholders in the industry. Key members of the association include McPhy, Air Liquide, Total, Engie, Lhyfe, H2V, GrDF, Helion, Qair, etc.
• For renewable energy in general and floating offshore wind in particular, the French Renewable Energy Trade Association is one of the main associations that plays this role of promoting the interests of industrials and professionals in the sector to public decision-makers. Key members of the association include Ideol, SBM France, EDF Renouvelables, EOLFI-Shell, Engie, Qair, etc.
• Principle Power and RTE – the French Transmission System Operator – are among other key private stakeholders for floating wind energy in France.

Innovation landscape

No specific research programme on floating wind and green hydrogen combination has been identified to date. However, the following completed or ongoing research projects are relevant to the topic:

• Jupiter 1000 has prepared for the deployment of the Power-to-Gas network in France, with a 1 MW hydrogen production platform in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur South region. Selected by GRTGaz, McPhy has equipped the project with a 1 MW hydrogen production platform. Commissioned in 2019, the system allowed testing the performance of two electrolysis technologies (alkaline & PEM) under real operational conditions.
• HyBalance is a project that demonstrates the use of hydrogen in energy systems. The hydrogen is produced from water electrolysis, enabling the storage of cheap renewable electricity from wind turbines. It can help balance the grid, and the hydrogen is used for clean transportation and in the industrial sector. Air Liquide is a key contributor of this project, funded by a 15-million-euro grant from the European Commission under the H2020 scheme.
• Masshylia is a collaborative research project between Total and Engie that aims at designing, developing, building and operating France's largest renewable hydrogen production, in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur South region. The project includes a direct current connection between a photovoltaic farm and the electrolyser to improve the energy balance.
• The GRHYD hydrogen energy storage demonstrator project, led by Engie and launched in 2014 for five years, trialled the injection of hydrogen into the natural gas distribution network of a new neighbourhood in the Hauts de France region, and an NGV refuelling station for buses located in the Dunkirk Urban Community.
• Led by Lhyfe and anchored in the Pays de la Loire region, H2Ouest aims to deploy a 100% green hydrogen sector in the region starting in 2021. Green hydrogen will be produced using 100% renewable energies and by electrolysis of water- it is described as a proof of concept that will eventually be replicable in a wide range of geographies.
• H2V59, led by H2V INDUSTRY, aims at creating a green hydrogen factory within Dunkirk Harbor. Works by RTE will start in the coming months to realize electrical connection to the grid, following a public consultation that established an overall support of the local public.
• The Littoral+ project is led by the Occitanie region and aims to prepare for the upcoming climate change consequences on the region’s coastline. Developing the production of marine renewable energies in combination with massive green hydrogen for low-carbon transport is identified as one of the four pillars of this €91 million project: the H2 Littoral action, led by the energy producer Qair.

Among the ongoing research projects identified, H2Ouest and Littoral+ offer the clearest synergy between floating wind and green hydrogen. Both projects are anchored in regions where floating wind pilot farms are being developed, and where commercial floating wind farms are being planned. Both project statements also state the link between wind/marine renewable energies and green hydrogen production. No specific national programme in France to date has combined both floating wind and hydrogen.