Hydrogen in 7 questions

Hydrogen

From vision to industrial reality

With over 60 years of expertise, Air Liquide is a leading player in the hydrogen sector. The Group views this molecule as a key solution in the energy transition to decarbonize industry and mobility, fully in line with its ambition to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Today, the focus is on implementing large-scale industrial projects to decarbonize the most carbon intensive sectors and deploy high-performance solutions for heavy-duty mobility.

  • A strong commitment to produce renewable or low-carbon hydrogen

  • Mastering the entire hydrogen value chain

  • Technologies and know-how for multiple applications in industry and mobility

A recognized mastery of the hydrogen value chain

Hydrogen plays a cross-functional role within Air Liquide’s activities. From production to distribution, including storage and transportation, the Group masters every link in the value chain. 

This expertise, derived notably from the space adventure and extreme cryogenics, enables the provision of solutions tailored to the requirements of many sectors (refining, steel). This unique positioning allows Air Liquide to secure complex industrial scale projects while ensuring a high level of operational reliability.

Our hydrogen sales currently represent 1.2 million tonnes per year, generating a revenue of 2 billion euros.

A targeted solution for decarbonization

Hydrogen does not replace electrification; it acts as a complement where electrification faces technical or economic limits. For heavy industries and intensive transport (so-called "hard-to-abate" sectors), it represents a relevant solution for massive emission reductions. Beyond its use as a feedstock or fuel, it brings flexibility to the energy system by enabling the storage and valorization of low-carbon energy at a large scale.

Hydrogen, a driver of industrial transformation

Through its Large Industries business line, Air Liquide serves its customers at the heart of the world's main industrial basins and combines this proximity with its technological mastery to support their energy transition. The reliability of our infrastructure is a guarantee of resilience, securing our customers' supply in a changing market. Pooling needs at the scale of these basins is thus a decisive asset for scaling up production and ensuring the availability of low-carbon hydrogen in large quantities and at a competitive price.

Whether used for its energy potential or as a feedstock, low-carbon and renewable hydrogen is an essential solution for transforming the industrial sectors that are most difficult to decarbonize:

  • Refining: for the desulfurization of hydrocarbons and the production of biofuels
  • Chemicals: as an essential feedstock for producing ammonia, methanol, and synthetic fuels (e-fuels)
  • Steel and metallurgy: for the direct reduction of iron ore (replacing coal) and the heat treatment of metals

The unique properties of hydrogen also make it an essential asset for many other sectors, ranging from semiconductor manufacturing in electronics (where it serves as an ultra-pure carrier gas) to cement and glass production, welding, or scientific research and analysis.

“

Hydrogen is a pillar of the energy transition, essential for building the foundations of a sustainable society. After the era of promises and demonstrations, the time of achievement has now arrived.

”

Armelle Levieux

Vice President Innovation and Technology, notably supervising Hydrogen activities, member of Air Liquide’s Executive Committee

Air Liquide and TotalEnergies are collaborating on an innovative project to produce renewable and low-carbon hydrogen at the Grandpuits platform. The two companies are joining forces to decarbonize the biorefinery through the construction of a new production unit integrating residual biogas recycling and CO₂ capture technologies, primarily intended for the production of sustainable aviation fuels.

Liquid hydrogen: a key lever for heavy-duty mobility

To meet the massive energy needs of heavy-duty road transport and prepare for the decarbonization of the maritime and aviation sectors, liquid hydrogen is emerging as a technology of the future. Drawing on its space heritage, Air Liquide masters this solution, which offers incomparable advantages. In addition to its high energy density, which can facilitate onboard storage and increase range, liquid hydrogen guarantees an optimal level of purity, essential for maximizing the lifespan of fuel cells.

Liquid hydrogen also enables the design of more compact distribution infrastructure and reduces the energy required for compression. It is to maximize this efficiency that Air Liquide developed its Advanced Delivery System, an innovation that optimizes cryogenic transfer to high-capacity stations by drastically limiting evaporation losses (boil-off). Most importantly, the liquid format radically streamlines the supply chain: a single truck carrying 3.6 tonnes of liquid hydrogen is equivalent to 16 trucks of compressed gas at 200 bar.

To support this industrial scale-up, the Group relies on major production capacities, such as its liquefier in North Las Vegas (Nevada), which produces 30 tonnes per day for mobility in California.

  • In South Korea, the Lotte-Air Liquide Ener'Hy joint venture operates the country's largest high-pressure (450 bar) hydrogen filling center in Daesan. This state-of-the-art strategic infrastructure is capable of packaging 17 tonnes of hydrogen per day, thus securing the massive supply of the mobility market, particularly for the Seoul metropolitan area.

  • A joint venture between Air Liquide and TotalEnergies, TEAL Mobility is developing a European network of hydrogen stations dedicated to heavy-duty trucks. Deployed under the TotalEnergies brand along major road axes, these stations enable the decarbonization of long-distance transport while guaranteeing logistics professionals fast refueling, extended range, and preserved payload.

  • Air Liquide has integrated its first hydrogen-powered heavy-duty trucks into its operations in the Netherlands. Deployed with its partner Schenk Tanktransport, these MAN hTGX trucks (equipped with hydrogen internal combustion engines) ensure the delivery of hydrogen to customers in the Rotterdam region.

  • In the Port of Oakland (United States), the pioneering NorCAL ZERO project contributes to the decarbonization of road freight with the deployment of a fleet of Hyundai hydrogen trucks. This initiative relies on a high-capacity distribution station, for which Air Liquide ensures the supply of liquid hydrogen.

  • A pioneer of hydrogen mobility in the Paris region, HysetCo contributes to the decarbonization of intensive fleets (taxis, ride-hailing services). The company manages both the first hydrogen station network in Île-de-France and a fleet of several hundred integrated vehicles. Its development is supported by strategic shareholders, including Hy24, Air Liquide, TotalEnergies, and Toyota France.

  • Air Liquide has installed over 260 hydrogen stations worldwide. This technological mastery, ranging from liquid hydrogen management to high-pressure distribution (350 and 700 bar), enables the deployment of high-capacity infrastructure ensuring fast and reliable refueling for light vehicles as well as heavy-duty truck fleets.

Producing low-carbon and renewable hydrogen

To support the decarbonization of industry and heavy-duty mobility, Air Liquide draws on its technological expertise by offering three modes of low-carbon hydrogen production:

  • Water electrolysis: This process emits no CO₂. Hydrogen is qualified as "renewable" when it uses electricity from renewable sources (wind, solar, hydro), and "low-carbon" when it relies on the national power grid (notably nuclear).
  • Steam reforming with carbon capture: Production from natural gas can be decarbonized thanks to Cryocap™, a technology patented by Air Liquide that captures up to 90% of CO₂ emissions for storage or valorization.
  • Biomethane reforming: A similar process produces renewable hydrogen from gas derived from the valorization of organic matter.

Intermittent by nature, renewable energies (such as wind or solar) can be converted into hydrogen through electrolysis. By mastering the compression and liquefaction of this molecule, Air Liquide enables this energy to be stored, transported efficiently in a reduced volume, and restored on demand, thus avoiding losses during peak electricity production.

  • Currently under construction in Saint-Jean-de-Folleville (France), Air Liquide Normand'Hy is a 200 MW PEM electrolyzer. This future large-scale facility will contribute to the decarbonization of the Seine Axis basin (notably refining operations) and participate in the development of the hydrogen supply for heavy-duty and intensive mobility.

  • Under construction in the Port of Rotterdam (Netherlands), the ELYgator project deploys a 200 MW electrolyzer powered by renewable electricity. Scheduled for completion by the end of 2027, this strategic unit will avoid the emission of 300,000 tonnes of CO₂ per year by directly supplying regional industry and the heavy-duty mobility sector.

  • Operated by the joint venture between Air Liquide and Siemens Energy, the Berlin Gigafactory ensures the serial production of PEM electrolyzer modules at an industrial scale. This plant provides the cutting-edge technology essential to equip and accelerate the deployment of high-capacity low-carbon hydrogen projects across Europe.

  • In Oberhausen (Germany), the 20 MW Trailblazer PEM electrolyzer is fully operational. The renewable hydrogen produced by this unit is directly injected into Air Liquide's pipeline network, enabling a continuous and large-scale supply to industrial customers and mobility players in the Ruhr region.

  • Since 2021, Air Liquide has been operating a 20 MW PEM (Proton Exchange Membrane) electrolyzer in Bécancour (Canada) with a production capacity of 8.2 tonnes of renewable hydrogen per day.

The Hydrogen Council

Launched in 2017 in Davos at the initiative of Air Liquide and Toyota, the Hydrogen Council is a global initiative intended to give hydrogen a voice on the international stage. Its goal is to promote a long-term vision of hydrogen technologies and uses, and to accelerate its large-scale deployment by mobilizing all players in the ecosystem, both industrial and political. Illustrating the Group's historical and continuous commitment to this mission, François Jackow, CEO of Air Liquide, was appointed co-chair of the organization in late 2025.

Visit the Hydrogen Council website

As a compass for the sector thanks to its reference studies, the Council recently highlighted the transition to the industrial reality of the industry. Announcements are now giving way to concrete projects, with over $110 billion in global investments firmly committed (Global Compass 2025).

The Hydrogen Council now brings together 140 members (companies from the energy, transport, and industrial sectors, as well as financial players) all committed to accelerating the transition toward carbon neutrality.

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