Lhyfe Heroes Launches First Hydrogen Ecosystems Management Portal
Lhyfe Heroes launches the first Hydrogen Ecosystems Management Portal to accelerate local hydrogen mobility.
Lhyfe Heroes, the pioneer digital platform to start decarbonising industries with green and renewable hydrogen, has unveiled the first-ever portal for managing hydrogen mobility ecosystems.
The portal, available to developers in the UK and across Europe, is being showcased at the Hydrogen Fuel Cell Europe fair in Hanover, Germany.
It aims to accelerate and manage multiple hydrogen uses in a given area, and is designed for regions, local authorities, economic development agencies, and end-users.
Lhyfe Heroes developed this tool as part of its ongoing mission to speed up hydrogen projects.
The challenges specific to hydrogen ecosystems
Developing hydrogen in an area involves several challenges:
- Answering the “chicken or the egg?” question, or in other words deciding where to start: Hydrogen production? Development of uses? Distribution?
- Correctly locating production and distribution infrastructure to meet user requirements.
- Developing and accelerating uses in the area through education.
The complexity of these challenges, combined with the need to build an entire fuel chain, can slow the progress of some projects.
Learning from experience: Synchronisation, the key to quick deployment
The Lhyfe Heroes platform was launched last November and developed by building on the experience of Lhyfe, one of the pioneers of green and renewable hydrogen.
The company has already successfully deployed four ecosystems in France and Germany, and is currently working on 9.8 GW of projects throughout Europe.
Lhyfe recently began its first UK operation in North East England to identify opportunities to deploy production facilities to support the country’s net zero ambitions.
Lhyfe’s first production plant, located in Pays de la Loire, is powered by wind and was opened in 2021. To accomplish this, Lhyfe coordinated with various public and private users, distributors, and manufacturers to create a regional ecosystem that synchronised their actions and offerings, resulting in the launch of a fuel chain in just two years.
Ecosystems are emerging at an increasing rate in Europe, with a growing number of organisations participating. An online solution can help to accelerate and ease this long-term task.
A portal to centralise information and accelerate ecosystem development
Recognising the significance of the ecosystem coordinator role and the complexity involved in the swift deployment of local-network-based ecosystems, Lhyfe Heroes has introduced a Hydrogen Ecosystems Management Portal to its digital platform.
This new feature streamlines the collection, updating, and sharing of data on hydrogen solutions, services, and needs.
It is also a communication tool for us to regularly show all the businesses and organisations in the city the dynamic approach of our community to this forward-looking issue.
Prior to this, the data was collected via email, phone, and in-person surveys and was stored in a database that was infrequently updated. With the introduction of this online tool, the process has become more efficient.
The Hydrogen Ecosystems Management Portal aims to assist developers in three ways:
- Map local needs to gain a better understanding of the required quantity and identify specific areas of usage.
- Facilitate project synchronisation among hydrogen uses, production, and distribution infrastructure, through regular communication on project progress.
- Foster end-user engagement by organising meetings with experts, potential partners, and local organisations to support fleet managers, station owners, and others to develop hydrogen uses quickly and maintain momentum.
The portal plays a vital role in making sound decisions on funding allocation for both infrastructure and usage. It also helps in choosing the right partners from the beginning of the project to prevent any bottleneck in the ecosystem’s development.
Several organisations, including the town of Schwäbisch Gmünd in Germany, the Economic Development Agency of the Occitanie/Pyrénées-Méditerranée Region (AD’OCC) in France, and an airport area, are already using the portal.
Hydrogen ecosystems can now contact Lhyfe Heroes to start setting up their portal account.
Alexander Groll, head of the Economic Development Agency in the City of Schwäbisch Gmünd, said: “The decarbonisation process is proving to be a major challenge for a medium-sized city like ours. In Schwäbisch Gmünd we face this challenge in particular with our sustainable technology park ASPEN and with the many different skills and expertise our local companies have in decarbonisation and hydrogen technologies.”
We welcomed the opportunity to test the Lhyfe Heroes Ecosystems portal with enthusiasm in order to work together more effectively between the many people and groups involved.
Benjamin Fevre, hydrogen innovation and industry coordinator at the Occitanie/ Pyrénées-Méditerranée Region, said: “To develop a hydrogen mobility project like the Occitanie H2 Corridor, we need to collaborate and exchange information among hydrogen technology suppliers, producers and distributors, carriers, shippers, and local communities.”
Claire Le Dren, in charge of developing Lhyfe Heroes, said: “Since the launch of Lhyfe Heroes, we have been paying close attention to our users and working with the sales teams of our partners. This helps us understand the challenges that players in the field are facing, and we use this information to improve our product.”
