Air Liquide, TotalEnergies, VINCI, and other international companies have joined forces to create a fund dedicated solely to clean hydrogen infrastructure solutions. The fund aims to raise funding of $1.74 billion and has already gathered $928.7 million through initial commitments. TotalEnergies, Air Liquide, and VINCI have each pledged $116.12 million to the fund. The fund will be managed by Hy24, a 50-50 joint venture between Ardian and FiveT Hydrogen.
The clean hydrogen infrastructure fund is expected to contribute to the development of hydrogen projects of around $17.31 billion. The platform will be operational in late 2021, with the first transaction likely to close before the end of the year. With substantial industry experience and significant investment potential, the fund will be able to unlock large-scale projects under development and assist in scaling up the hydrogen market. The fund’s anchor investors will include LOTTE Chemical and AXA. As non-anchor partners, large worldwide industrial businesses from North America and Europe, such as Groupe ADP, Ballard, EDF, and Schaeffler, will join the initiative.
The fund will invest in the whole value chain of renewable and low-carbon hydrogen across Asia, Europe, and the Americas. It will invest in significant upstream and downstream clean hydrogen projects in collaboration with other important project developers and industry partners. The fund will help the clean hydrogen ecosystem flourish by sponsoring significant strategic projects and leveraging the alliances of industrial and financial stakeholders.