Review of the French hydrogen sector’s international news | July 2026 

Each month, France Hydrogène offers an overview of the French sector’s progress on the international stage: projects taking shape, confirmed funding, new industrial collaborations, and more. 

Here are the key takeaways for July 2026 :

ENGIE and Equinor’s H2BE project, a 1GW low-carbon hydrogen plant in Ghent, agrees preliminary offtake terms with INEOS to supply low-carbon hydrogen to the Project ONE steam cracker in Antwerp. 

Mantle8 is granted two Spanish investigation permits (Aralar I and Aralar II) by Spain’s Dirección General de Política Energética y Minas, covering ~960 km² across Navarra and the Basque Country to explore for natural hydrogen and helium. 

RotH2 delivers several 550 and 1,000 bar storage racks to ARPA, a mobile energy solutions provider, including two 550 bar racks with 46 bottles of 53L each and two 1,000 bar racks with 16 bottles of 50L each. 

Airbus and MTU Aero Engines plan to form a joint venture, expected to launch operations in 2027 to develop and commercialize a fully electric hydrogen fuel cell propulsion system for aircraft. 

Genevos and Dutch company Koedood Marine Group sign a Letter of Intent to jointly explore the deployment of hydrogen fuel cell systems for inland and coastal maritime transport. 

Lhyfe expands its hydrogen transport fleet with 10 new Hexagon Purus containers, bringing its total to 84 Type IV tube trailers. 

Safran and ZeroAvia launch a partnership to accelerate the maturation of hydrogen-electric fuel cell propulsion technologies. 

The H2med consortium’s BarMar undersea pipeline project connecting Barcelona and Marseille advances to the FEED phase, with construction expected to lead to commercial operations by 2032. 

HDF Energy Indonesia signs a Joint Development Study Agreement with PT PLN Nusantara Power to explore renewable energy and hydrogen-based power solutions. 

Khimod, Vema Hydrogen, and SAF+ International Group sign a memorandum of understanding to build Quebec’s first integrated mineral-hydrogen-to-SAF ecosystem. 

45-8 Energy and its partner H2Au launch their joint venture’s first drilling campaign in Kansas, targeting two structural highs on the Nemaha Ridge to evaluate natural hydrogen and helium potential. 

Air Liquide is investing more than $200 (€174.9m) million to build a new partial oxidation (POX) unit at Oxea’s Bay City site in Texas, which will produce syngas and low-carbon hydrogen to meet the chemical manufacturer’s demand. 

Air Liquide invests over $160 million (€139.77m) to build and operate a new large-scale facility in Arizona that will produce low-carbon hydrogen with carbon capture technology. 

RotH2 delivers a rack of 22 bottles rated at 1,000 bar (1,100L total volume) in South Africa for the HySA hydrogen research program led by the University of Western Cape.