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Retrospective 2024: A year of strategic advances

01/06/2025

The commissioning of the Marolles renewable hydrogen and gas production, testing and training center, located in the vicinity of Haffner Energy’s headquarters, was the single-most critical project for the company in 2024. Syngas production kicked off in June 2024 (see 6/20/2024 press release). The installation of new equipment designed to produce renewable hydrogen followed over the past half-year (see 11/22/2024 press release).

This showcase site is a strategic instrument for Haffner Energy’s commercial and industrial development. It will make it possible to bring some 120 tonnes of hydrogen per year to market, generating revenue. As such, after closing, a Memorandum of Understanding for the supply of renewable hydrogen was signed with a French operator specializing in hydrogen shipping and distribution, to collect and sell hydrogen produced on site in order to decarbonize mobility and industry.

A showroom of the company’s know-how, this site, designed to operate continuously 8,000 hours a year, presents a wide range of Haffner Energy’s solutions: production of “super green” hydrogen and gas, co-production of electricity, as well as production and/or gasification of biocarbon and/or biochar.

This site was inaugurated on November 22, 2024, during Industry Week, (see 11/22/2024 press release and press kit) after a year of development, including archaeological excavations and assembly of the equipment. It attests to the technological maturity of Haffner Energy’s technologies, as well as to their economic and ecological relevance.

The Marolles project could be carried out in part thanks to the support and commitment of the French public authorities through many stakeholders. To date, it has received over €1M in public funding (see 11/22/2024 press release and press kit). This substantial support demonstrates confidence in Haffner Energy’s potential and alignment with the French government’s reindustrialization strategy.

While achieving this major milestone for its industrial and commercial development, Haffner Energy also succeeded in forging several partnerships with leading international players in the SAF market during the same period. 

  • A collaboration was launched with US company LanzaJet, a world leader in ATJ (Alcohol-To-Jet) technology, distinguished by TIME magazine as one of the “100 Most Influential Companies” in 2024. For now, this collaboration centers on the “Paris-Vatry SAF” project led by Haffner Energy and announced in May 2024 (see 05/16/2024 and 06/06/2024 press releases). This will be the first French project to produce SAF from biomass thermolysis. Developed in collaboration with several public and private partners, Paris-Vatry SAF will be installed at Vatry airport in the Marne department in Grand Est Region. This project will have a production capacity of 60,000 tons per year.
  • In Iceland, a key agreement was signed in September 2024 (see 09/02/2024 press release) with IðunnH2, the green hydrogen and sustainable e-fuel project developer in charge of the country’s largest e-SAF production plant project (65,000-tonne capacity). Located near Keflavík International Airport and scheduled for commissioning in 2028, it will be supplied with biogenic carbon from biocarbon gasification by Haffner Energy’s patented technology. This solution was chosen by IðunnH2 for its ability to significantly reduce costs and increase productivity in the e-SAF production process. Indeed, in Iceland, limited local biomass reduces access to biogenic carbon, an essential component of SAF. Haffner Energy’s procurement of solid biocarbon to be gasified on-site by its Gasiliner®, will provide a competitive and flexible alternative to the traditional option of biogenic CO2, a gas that is expensive to capture, transport and store.

Trust from these operators, who are among the most advanced in the SAF market, illustrates Haffner Energy’s ability to build the partners’ network that is required to aim for pole position in this particularly buoyant market segment.

The period was also used by the company to move forward on other strategic fronts. In France, a new agreement was signed in August 2024 (see 09/24/2024 press release) to ensure that sources of sustainable biomass, the largest source of renewable energy in France and around the world, are diversified. Concluded with Bambbco, France’s leader in the bamboo supply chain, this partnership aims to improve the biomass-to-energy supply chain, particularly on marginal lands and in desert areas, by creating local ecosystems for sustainable fuel production projects. This agreement is in line with the strategic approach behind the partnership signed in March 2024 with Hexas, a US company specializing in the production of raw materials from its regenerative crop: XanoGrass™ (see 03/13/2024 press release).

Furthermore, Haffner Energy has been striving to structure its activity and future developments on the SAF front by launching the creation of an SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle) for the Paris-Vatry SAF project and by announcing the upcoming launch of SAF Zero, a spin-off designed to maximize the Group’s potential in the booming Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) market (see 09/12/2024 press release). Finally, the creation of Haffner Energy Inc., an unconsolidated US subsidiary, was completed in May 2024 (see 05/29/2024 press release).

2024 IN BRIEF

January: Construction begins on a hydrogen production, testing and training center in the Vitry-Marolles business park (Marne), close to Haffner Energy’s headquarters.

February 9: Former President of France François Hollande visits Haffner Energy in Vitry-le-François, accompanied by several local elected officials.

March 13: Haffner Energy and US company Hexas announce the launch of an integrated offering for the production of renewable energy from biomass grown on marginal lands.

April 16: The new Haffner Energy website is launched.

April 23: Haffner Energy wins Business France’s “Coup de Cœur” CSR Booster Prize and CEO Philippe Haffner becomes an ambassador for Team France Export.

May 29: Announcement of the creation of Haffner Energy, Inc., the US entity of Haffner Energy.

June 6: Haffner Energy joins forces with American leader in the Alcohol-to-Jet process LanzaJet, named by TIME magazine on the 2024 “100 Most Influential Companies” list, for the “Paris-Vatry SAF” project, a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production plant at Paris-Vatry airport.

June 18: Production of renewable gas (syngas) begins at the Marolles site.

September 2: Haffner Energy and IðunnH2, an Icelandic developer of green hydrogen projects, sign a key agreement to reduce costs and secure carbon supply for Iceland’s largest e-SAF project (65,000 tons/year).

September 17: Haffner Energy’s proprietary HYNOCA® solution is selected for a project to produce syngas and renewable hydrogen for industrial and mobility use in the Nord Lozère industrial area in Occitanie Region, France. The aim is to meet the needs of the ArcelorMittal plant in Saint-Chély-d’Apcher.

September 24: Haffner Energy joins forces with Bambbco, France’s leading bamboo ecosystem developer, to diversify sources of sustainable biomass with no conflicts of use.

September 30: The Nede’HY project, which aims to produce green hydrogen from Haffner Energy’s HYNOCA® solution, wins ADEME’s EcosysH2 call for projects.

October 17: 500,000 euros in subsidies are awarded to Haffner Energy for its new hydrogen production, testing and training center, via the France 2030 Regionalized program, co-financed by the French government and the Grand Est Region and operated by Bpifrance.

November 22: Haffner Energy’s hydrogen production, testing and training center is inaugurated during Industry Week. On this occasion, Henri Prévost, Marne County prefect, announces the award of 400,000 euros in subsidies via the “Fonds vert – Territoires d’industrie en transition écologique” financed by the French government and operated by ADEME.

Early November-late December: More than a dozen delegations of customers and partners from ten countries and four continents traveled to Vitry-Marolles to visit the center.

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