In a few years, Cyril Dufau-Sansot hopes, Hy2gen could be as well known as the big oil companies are today.

However, the name of the Wiesbaden-based company, which Dufau-Sansot co-founded in 2017, should not stand for oil and gas, but for the clean fuels of the future, above all hydrogen.

Hy2gen wants to promote the industrial production of so-called e-fuels, set up and operate the systems for this and replace fossil fuels with the new fuels, first in shipping and aviation and finally also in land transport and in industry.

The fact that this is more than a dream is now also supported by the 200 million euros in financing that the company has just collected from various investors.

Inga Janovic

Editor in the regional section of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and responsible editor of the business magazine Metropol.

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This is to be used to build production plants in various regions around the world in order to advance the production of hydrogen and the production of ammonia and methanol as alternative fuels.

According to Hy2gen, the cash injection, which came from the investment platform Hy24, which specializes in hydrogen infrastructure, the asset management company Mirova, the Canadian pension fund CDPQ and the Dutch plant manufacturer Technip Energies, is the largest private capital increase in the green hydrogen segment to date.

Only 30 employees so far

In order to be able to produce the chemical as a price-competitive raw material that is available in large quantities, in addition to large production facilities, “strong support from stakeholders from acceptance to project financing and implementation as well as the management of expert teams for development and control” are required. says Pierre-Etienne Franc, CEO of Hy24.

Hy2gen “successfully brought all of this to one table”.

Similar words of praise came from Emmanuel Jaclot, Executive Vice President and Head of Infrastructure at CDPQ.

We look forward to working alongside pioneers of this promising form of energy.

It has the potential to "accelerate the decarbonization of high-polluting industries."

With such a big impact, it is hard to imagine that Hy2gen is a company with 30 employees so far.

But the founders are experienced and well-connected engineers.

The Frenchman Dufau-Sansot, for example, managed power-to-gas projects at the Hessian family company Viessmann and was then responsible for the electrolysis division at the French nuclear power company Areva.

The fact that the Swiss commodity trader Trafigura holds shares in Hy2gen should also inspire confidence among investors.

In addition, the Wiesbaden-based company already has concrete projects to show for which they are working together with partners.

Expansion of production planned

In the south of France, for example, a small test facility for hydrogen production is already in operation, whereby its daily production of 60,000 liters of climate-neutral aircraft fuel is even less than the tank filling of a Boeing 747.

According to Cyril Dufau-Sansot, however, there are plans to expand production in the region in order to supply both seafaring and an airport with climate-friendly fuel.

Another Hy2gen plant could be built in Lusatia, where the state of Brandenburg wants to build an entire hydrogen region.

Hy2gen is currently working on the feasibility study.

In Norway, Hy2gen is working together with Trafigura and the Danish fund CIP on a plant for the production of green ammonia, which is considered an alternative to ship diesel for ocean liners, at least for the near future.

Because a lot of electricity is required for the production facilities, the fuels obtained can only be considered green if the entire process is based on sustainably generated energy, i.e. the necessary electricity comes from the power of the sun, wind, water or biomass.

Wherever they are available, Hy2gen wants to set up systems.

The production of ammonia is particularly power-intensive, explains Cyril Dufau-Sansot.

In view of the high electricity prices, Europe is therefore not a suitable location; South America, South Africa or Australia would be more suitable.

The situation is different with hydrogen production, for which biomass such as wood is needed.

It is also economically possible in Germany, France and the USA.

"And that's where the main demand is, of course," says Dufau-Sansot.