Luxembourg to invest more than €1bn in French port
Kumpan Electric, Unsplash
The French government has selected projects to build a hydrogen import terminal, a renewable fuel plant and a lithium processing plant in the public port of Le Havre. The projects are part of the €30 billion "France 2030" programme. Haropa Port, the port's management company, has issued a tender for green projects on a designated area.
The three selected projects will receive simplified approval and support for preliminary studies. The total investment will be between 2.6 and 2.7 billion euros and will create 720 jobs. US company Air Products has proposed to build a renewable hydrogen import terminal at a cost of €1.1 billion, creating around 270 jobs. Air Products had previously signed an agreement with TotalEnergies to supply 500,000 tonnes of renewable hydrogen per year for use at the French Gonfreville plant.
The second project, submitted by Luxembourg-based chemical company Livista with an investment of €1.2 billion, will occupy almost half of the industrial zone and create 300 jobs to process lithium for electric car batteries.
The lithium plant project will be a significant step in creating a European supply chain for electric vehicles, helping to reduce Europe's dependence on lithium supplies from Asia. The expected capacity of the plant will be 40,000 tonnes, with the possibility of doubling, to produce lithium for the batteries of 1.5 million electric vehicles annually. Production is scheduled to start in 2028.
The third project of the French company Qair involves the production and storage of hydrogen and methanol. The project is worth about 500 million euros and will create 150 jobs.
