Air Liquide Receives €110M for Renewable Ammonia, Hydrogen Work: ENHANCE Project

The European Innovation Fund (EIF) granted Air Liquide €110 million for its ENHANCE project in Belgium, which will produce and distribute low-carbon, renewable hydrogen derived from ammonia. In the Port of Antwerp-Bruges, Air Liquide will construct, own, and operate an industrial-scale renewable ammonia cracking plant, retrofit a hydrogen production unit, and build a hydrogen liquefier.

“The combination of ammonia cracking and hydrogen liquefaction technologies offers an additional solution to support the growth of the global hydrogen market,” said Armelle Levieux, Member of the Executive Committee of Air Liquide. “We welcome the support from the European Commission for our ENHANCE project, which contributes to the emergence of a viable infrastructure for the supply of renewable and low-carbon hydrogen in Europe. In line with our ADVANCE strategic plan, this project supports Air Liquide’s commitment to the energy transition, with low-carbon hydrogen playing a key role for the decarbonization of the industry and mobility. ENHANCE supports European ambitions towards carbon neutrality.”

Hydrogen liquefier; image credit: Air Liquide

Facility Impact

The planned facility will help develop the European low-carbon and renewable hydrogen supply chain and assist decarbonization in hard-to-abate industries, including refineries, chemicals, heavy-duty road and maritime transport, and aviation. By replacing natural gas feedstock with ammonia to generate gaseous and liquid hydrogen, the project may reduce CO₂ emissions by over 300,000 tons annually. Air Liquide will leverage the knowledge gained from its ammonia cracking pilot plant in the Belgian port.

The EIF regularly funds low-carbon technologies and initiatives, and its Air Liquide grant will assist ENHANCE in reaching a final investment decision and beginning project execution.

Air Liquide News

In late November 2024, Air Liquide announced that it will construct, own, and operate a renewable hydrogen production project with an annual capacity of 25,000 tons at TotalEnergies’ La Mède biorefinery in southern France. Using recycled biogenic by-products instead of fossil hydrocarbons, the unit will generate renewable hydrogen which will be used to produce biofuels and sustainable aviation fuels at the biorefinery. Beginning operation in 2028, it will decarbonize the biorefinery by reducing CO₂ emissions by approximately 130,000 tons annually.

The project represents an Air Liquide investment of more than €80 million to establish a renewable hydrogen ecosystem in the Fos-sur-Mer area, a primary industrial basin in France. The La Mède project aligns with Air Liquide’s goal to support its industrial partners’ decarbonization initiatives, as well as the company’s plan to decarbonize its hydrogen network production sources. Installing a renewable hydrogen production unit increases Air Liquide’s capacity to satisfy current and future requirements for low-carbon hydrogen in the industrial basin.

And, in October, Air Liquide and Cementir Holding Group launched a joint decarbonization project called ACCSION—the project was granted €220 million in project support by the European Commission’s EIF. ACCSION, located in Aalborg, Denmark, will be a fully onshore carbon capture and storage value chain aimed at reducing CO₂ emissions at the Aalborg Portland cement plant. Project completion will avoid 1.5 million tons of CO₂ emissions per year of operation.

Air Liquide’s Cryocap will capture, purify, and liquefy approximately 95% of the CO₂ emitted by the plant’s cement kilns. Following capture, the CO₂ will be injected and transported in new pipeline infrastructure to onshore CO₂ storage facilities. The project will help reduce emissions in the hard-to-abate cement industry, as the production of its main component, clinker, requires heating limestone—a CO₂-intensive process. ACCSION is planned for operation by year-end 2029.