Total joins HysetCo’s fuel cell joint venture in Paris
Total is buying a 20 per cent stake in HysetCo, a joint venture focused on hydrogen mobility in the Paris region. The joint venture owns a fleet of around 700 taxis, the majority of which are still diesel vehicles, but will be gradually converted to hydrogen vehicles by 2024.
Total describes the acquisition as a concrete commitment and acceleration for Total in hydrogen mobility. “We are delighted to be working with partners whose skills and expertise complement each other throughout the hydrogen vehicle value chain,” expressed Patrick Pouyanné, Total’s chairman and CEO. He said his company will provide HysetCo with its refuelling stations to expand its network of hydrogen refuelling stations.
In February 2019, Air Liquide, Idex, Société du Taxi Électrique Parisien (STEP) and Toyota had created HysetCo as a joint venture. At the time, the partners named as their goal the development of hydrogen mobility in the Paris region in general and the further development of the world’s first hydrogen-powered taxi fleet called Hype in particular. This has been active throughout the Île-de-France region since 2015. The latest status is that 100 H2 vehicles are on the road in Paris under the Hype flag. The Hype project aims to demonstrate that the use of hydrogen vehicles in urban mobility is feasible on a large scale.
Against this background, the French joint venture had acquired the Parisian taxi operator Slota earlier this year and announced its intention to replace its diesel cars with 600 Toyota Mirai. HysetCo also operates several hydrogen filling stations in the Paris metropolitan region. This network is now to be expanded with the help of Total in order to create the preconditions for fleet expansion.
According to Total, it has recently been working on the production of clean, including both blue and green, hydrogen. For several years, it has been working on the development of concrete applications, both for the decarbonisation of industrial processes and in the mobility and gas sectors. In Germany alone, Total offers hydrogen at 24 filling stations as part of the joint venture H2 Mobility. Total is also an active member of several hydrogen initiatives and professional associations: the Hydrogen Council, Hydrogen Europe, the European Clean Hydrogen Alliance and France Hydrogène.
At the same time, Total is also positioning itself as a player in the charging infrastructure market in Paris: in mid-November, the oil company won the concession tender of the city of Paris for the modernisation and expansion of the French capital’s public charging network. The concession is valid for ten years and covers the supply, installation and operation of the charging network.
“After investing in the new Bélib’ network of charge points for electric vehicles, Total is contributing to position Paris as a showcase for new carbon-neutral urban mobility for businesses and consumers. Total is thus continuing to accelerate its transformation into TotalEnergies, a leading broad-energy player in the energy transition,” comments CEO Patrick Pouyanné in the latest announcement.
With reporting by Cora Werwitzke, France.
0 Comments