The Community of Communes of Haute-Saintonge (CDCHS), a positive energy territory (TEPOS) historically committed to the development of renewable energies, launched a Call for Expressions of Interest (AMI) at the end of 2021 for the development of a photovoltaic park on the site of the Haute Saintonge Mechanical Cluster, in Charente-Maritime.
BayWa r.e., an international company specializing in renewable energies, was selected to implement an ambitious energy transition project in Haute-Saintonge.
BayWa r.e. has approached Lhyfe, a world pioneer and pure player in renewable green hydrogen, for this project supported by the Haute-Saintonge Community of Communes. In close collaboration with the Community of Communes, Lhyfe will conduct a study of the opportunities in the region with a view to building a hydrogen production facility.
BayWa r.e. will be responsible for the development, construction and operation of a 40 MWp photovoltaic park, as well as the development of a battery electricity storage unit.
Lhyfe will be in charge of the development, construction and operation of a renewable green hydrogen production unit powered by the electricity production of the photovoltaic park.
The renewable hydrogen produced in this way could be marketed locally by Lhyfe to industrial and mobility players within a 100 to 150 km radius. “Beyond the implementation of a new photovoltaic park, we wanted to see the emergence of an innovative project to strengthen the attractiveness of the Mechanical Engineering Cluster and contribute to job creation in the region. On the other hand, we wanted it to bring innovations, even experimental ones, in the field of electricity storage and hydrogen production. The proposal made by BayWa r.e. meets these two requirements,” explains Claude Belot, President of the Community of Communes of Haute-Saintonge.
