An article from the special issue of L’Express “Find the city that suits you”
In theory, the most powerful hydrogen station ever installed in France could only take up residence in one of our influential metropolises. In reality, it was in Auxerre that AuxHYgen was inaugurated in October 2021. Giving the small agglomeration of Yonne (68,000 inhabitants) the appearance of a cutting-edge territory in terms of ecological transition.
For the past year, five of its buses have been running using this energy. And that’s just the beginning. Not only will this figure increase to ten in 2023 (i.e. half of the total fleet), but other uses will be supplied as well: dumpsters, barges, social housing and even a regional train… Good news for the planet, since hydrogen only releases water on condition that it is produced from renewable energies, as is the case in Auxerre. The icing on the cake: the entire sector is Franco-French, from the electrolysis tank to the supply terminals, including buses, fuel cells and the future hydrogen train.
“At the very beginning of a great industrial adventure”
Why Auxerre? On the one hand because the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, which has equipped itself with a “hydrogen sector”, is ahead of the curve on this subject. On the other hand because the prefecture of Yonne had to replace its old buses, too old and too polluting. So why not opt for hydrogen vehicles? This was the intuition of Guy Férez, mayor (PS) of the city until 2020. “The problem is that it was impossible to obtain a return on investment, comments Crescent Marault (LR), who succeeded him at the head of the municipality and the agglomeration. We have therefore decided to be even more ambitious and to implement a hydrogen ecosystem concerning all sectors.”
And it works. Already, companies are fueling their utility vehicles at the station; start-ups specializing in the field are hosted in a dedicated incubator; a master’s degree, a BTS and a vocational baccalaureate centered on professions in this promising sector are in place. “Since there is the future, we might as well make sure that Auxerrois is ready before the others. We are at the very beginning of a great industrial adventure”, assures the mayor.
The chosen one knows, however, that he must remain on his guard. Hynamics, the EDF subsidiary that built its station, is preparing to open others in Cannes, Dunkirk and Belfort… In hydrogen too, territorial competition has only just begun.