Air Liquide is to take over the operation of TotalEnergies’ 255t/d hydrogen production site in Normandy, part of a wider cooperation between the two companies. The move will bring efficiencies in that the plant will then be a part of Air Liquide’s wider hydrogen production activities, but the most interesting part of the deal is that Air Liquide will be looking at implementing carbon capture at the plant. Whether it is implemented or not will depend on the future price of carbon permits under the EU Emissions Trading System, but with prices projected to be at almost €60/tonne by December this year, and the potential of capturing 650,000t/yr of CO₂ by 2030, a positive business case may be possible. (At €60/tonne, this would be a gross saving of €39 million per year by 2030.) TotalEnergies’ role in the project would be to handle the transportation side of the blue hydrogen production, with CO₂ possibly being delivered to the Northern Lights project in Norway or the Aramis project in the Netherlands for storage.

Air Liquide is also considering adding an electrolysis unit to the Normandy facility, in which case the site could be producing both green and blue hydrogen.