The French government has signed off on €99.84m of state aid towards the construction of France’s first manufacturing site for anion exchange membrane (AEM) electrolysers.
Electrolyser manufacturer Gen-Hy had been approved for the grant via the EU’s Important Projects of Common European Interest scheme back in May 2024, and has already broken ground on the site in Allenjoie, eastern France.
AEM technology is newer than incumbent alkaline and proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysers, with its manufacturers claiming high efficiency and fast responses to fluctuations in renewable energy — much like PEM, but without PEM’s need for expensive platinum-group metals.
Gen-Hy already targets 85% efficiency at higher heating value for its first phase of electrolysers and 90% in a future second generation.
The firm claims it will be the first in the world to make AEM electrolysers completely in-house, from catalysts to membranes to stacks, while also assembling balance-of-plant “under the same roof”. In other words, the company will build full electrolysis systems at the Allenjoie factory before shipping them out to customers.
