Japan's Mitsui & Co invests EUR 10m in Lhyfe

Lhyfe has raised EUR 10 million (USD 10.82m) from Japan's Mitsui & Co Ltd. (TYO:8031) which will become a strategic investor in the French green hydrogen producer.

Mitsui, which has already made investments in hydrogen-related businesses, will support Lhyfe in identifying commercial opportunities, enhancing its competitiveness, and pursuing international expansion, Lhyfe said on Tuesday.

"This agreement with Mitsui will give an important boost to our development in strategic markets internationally, to decarbonise transportation and industry quickly and on a massive scale," said Lhyfe's founding president Matthieu Guesne.

The investment by Mitsui comes after Lhyfe raised a total of EUR 66 million in 2021 from Andera Partners, Swen Capital, CDC Banque des Territoires and several of its original shareholders to fund its growth plans.

In September, the Nantes-based company commissioned its first industrial site for green hydrogen production with a capacity of 2.5 MW in Bouin in the Vendee region. The plant runs on wind power and produces 300 kg of hydrogen per day with plans to scale up production to a tonne per day.

Earlier this month, Lhyfe and Germany’s Wpd AG unveiled a partnership aimed at the installation of 600 MW of electrolysis capacity to produce green hydrogen. The electrolysers will be powered with electricity from Wpd’s roughly 1-GW Storgrundet wind park in Swedish waters.

(EUR 1 = USD 1.083)

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