HyDeo Day 2026: A great day advancing hydrogen in Occitanie!
by Laetitia Mailhes, Business development and communications manager
Under the leadership of HyDeO, which coordinates and brings together the hydrogen sector in the Occitanie region, local hydrogen industry stakeholders gathered today at La Cité in Toulouse to discuss a strategic question: How can hydrogen become a driver of energy, technological and industrial sovereignty?
With a €150 million budget dedicated to developing the hydrogen sector between 2020 and 2030, the Occitanie / Pyrénées-Méditerranée Region has set ambitious goals, in line with its objective of becoming Europe’s first positive-energy region by 2050 (producing more renewable energy over the course of a year than it consumes in total).
Occitanie also has abundant residual biomass resources. As early as 2019, the Region adopted a Regional Biomass Strategy (SRB) aimed at structuring and developing the energy recovery of biomass, in line with its forestry, energy and waste management policies. This represents a major area of action to strengthen energy sovereignty, which was the central theme of the day. The SRB is due to be revised in 2027.
This creates a promising environment for Haffner Energy, whose technology converts residual biomass into hydrogen and other renewable energy sources and fuels at highly competitive production costs, thanks to the low cost of biomass residues and the energy efficiency of the process.
One thing is certain: the “deteriorating outlook” for the hydrogen sector highlighted by companies in Occitanie, reflecting the situation at the national level, is ultimately nothing more than an inevitable phase in the development of an emerging industry, as the highly eloquent Philippe Chalmin, founder and president of CyclOpe, a research firm specializing in the analysis of global raw material and commodity markets, passionately reminded us.
There is every reason to believe that hydrogen will eventually establish itself as a major driver of the energy transition. Asia, and China in particular, have clearly understood this, accelerating the development of their hydrogen projects and extending their lead while Europe continues to hesitate, as several speakers pointed out.
In conclusion, Philippe Chalmin shared his own variation on a famous quote by the poet Paul Éluard: “We must not imagine tomorrow through today’s eyes.”
So let us free our imaginations from today’s constraints and envision a world where heavy-duty and light-duty transportation, industry and other applications are powered by renewable hydrogen and a range of decarbonized energy sources… and let us work together to make that vision a reality!
