The future of hydrogen is taking shape in Occitanie

H2 Corridor is a European project that aims to massively decarbonise heavy traffic on a North-South axis from the Mediterranean to the North Sea by developing the use of green hydrogen as fuel for trucks, refrigeration units and coaches.

H2 Corridor origins

The development of this project along the Trans-European Transport Corridor must be carried out brick by brick, territory by territory, in order to progressively lead from North to South to a system of hydrogen infrastructures supplying heavy vehicle fleets.
The “H2 Corridor in Occitanie” project is the first brick, launched by the Region and supported by the European Investment Bank and the European Commission.

Occitanie, the first region to launch the project on its territory:

To this end, it is acting to assist project owners in their efforts to develop hydrogen production and distribution capacity and deploy large numbers of hydrogen-powered heavy vehicles. The goal is to get the H2 Corridor project up and running in Occitanie by 2023, with two units producing hydrogen from renewable energy, eight hydrogen distribution stations, 40 hydrogen-powered trucks, 62 refrigerated trailers/units for trucks and 15 regional intercity H2 coaches (retrofitted).

To identify the stakeholders who will develop this project with it, the Region has launched a call for projects for hydrogen suppliers and a call for expressions of interest for consumers (to be found in the “Join us” section).

Key figures for the H2 Corridor in Occitanie

110M€

Total investment, with project completion scheduled for end 2023

2

renewable hydrogen production sites

A 6 tonnes/day

cumulative production capacity

8 distribution stations

 with a capacity of 600 to 1,200 kg/day per station

40

trucks

62 refrigeration units

for trucks

15

regional intercity coaches

Succeed hydrogen deployment

On 15 April, the European Union notified the region that the project had been selected in the EIM-T (European Interconnection Mechanism – Transport) call for proposals and would receive a grant worth €14.5 million, in addition to a loan from the European Investment Bank of €40 million.

With this support, Occitanie is therefore gathering favorable conditions for the development of the green hydrogen sector.

Join us to make this project a success, find out about the hydrogen solutions currently being deployed and gain access to public financial support, as well as assistance in setting up your project.

hydrogene supliers and producers

Trucks or refregirated unit fleet managers

Calendar

Geographical scope

In line with its commitment to the European Investment Bank and the European Commission, the region intends to deploy the hydrogen production and distribution sites on or at less than 10 km from the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) Core Network, or the “nodes” of these main axes.

The target zones were identified by a strategic analysis of the region with a view to the initial deployment phase of green hydrogen as a fuel for mobility in Occitanie. This analysis covered heavy transport flows, logistics centres, TEN-T road and port nodes, and the coach services of the regional liO public transport network. The study identified three target zones :

  1. The “A9 Coast” zone along the central TEN-T “Mediterranean” corridor
  2. The “Toulouse” zone along the central TEN-T “Other Networks” corridor linking the Mediterranean and Atlantic along the Narbonne-Bordeaux axis (A61 – A62)
  3. The “Tarn” zone along the adjacent, secondary TEN-T “Comprehensive Network”, on the Toulouse-Albi segment (A68)

As part of the tendering schemes for the H2 Corridor in Occitanie project, the region will therefore select as a priority the two most relevant production projects and the eight most relevant station projects in relation to these locations.

Contacts

Occitanie Region 

Charlyne RIBEYROLLES

‘Hydrogen and Territory’ Project Manager

charlyne.ribeyrolles@laregion.fr

AD’OCC

Benjamin FEVRE

Hydrogen Sector Policy Officer, HyDeO Coordinator

benjamin.fevre@agence-adocc.com

Project owners and co-financers

Hydrogen expert consultants