By ashleykaren
Vinci, the French construction giant, to assist raise €1.5bn fund for clean hydrogen infrastructure solutions
The company, along with two other Paris-headquartered firms – energy firm TotalEnergies and gas technology firm Air Liquide– has launched a great investment fund, dedicated to the development of clean hydrogen infrastructure solutions.
With essential businesses in Europe, the Americas, and Asia participating, the alliance mentioned it plans to construct a €1.5 billion fund totally, which is going to be invested across the value chain of renewable and low carbon hydrogen.
The firms named by Vinci as either onboard or soon to be contained Chart Industries, Plug Power, Baker Hughes, Axa, Lotte Chemical, Ballard, Groupe ADP, EDF, and Schaeffler.
Leadership in energy transition
Vinci construction revealed that already, €800 million has been raised. With the fund managed by Hy241 which is a JV partnership between FiveT Hydrogen and Ardian, the group will shortly move to the selection of hydrogen projects in which to invest.
The company argued it anticipates the fund to contribute to projects with a total value of about €15 billion.
“Vinci is taking concrete action to support the development of clean energy by mobilizing all its divisions in concessions, construction, and energy, with the aim of actively combating climate change and decarbonizing mobility in particular,” said Xavier Huillard, Vinci’s chairman and CEO.
He added: “By launching this investment fund today, hand in hand with other major industry leaders, we keep moving forward to make green hydrogen a strong lever in achieving our objectives.”
Chairman and CEO of Air Liquide, Benoît Potier, stated: “Hydrogen has become a central element of the energy transition. The time to act is now, not only as companies on a stand-alone basis but by joining forces with states, other industrial groups, and the financial community.”
Also, the chairman and CEO of TotalEnergies, Patrick Pouyanné, mentioned: “We are convinced that a collective effort is needed to kick-start the hydrogen sector and take it to scale. We are…proud to launch and invest in the clean hydrogen infrastructure fund, which will also give us privileged insights in the sector”.
