Producer and supplier of green and renewable hydrogen, Lhyfe was born in Nantes. Today, this rapidly growing European group employs around 200 people, including 140 in Nantes, and operates in 12 countries.
Lhyfe keeps expanding in Nantes—here’s a look back at an extraordinary journey!
“In 2017, I realized the responsibility of becoming a father and the need to launch the Lhyfe adventure to ensure a more breathable world for my children and future generations,” recalls Matthieu Guesné, then Director of CEA Tech Nantes.
At the time, several local authorities in Western France were committing to switching their bus and waste collection truck fleets to hydrogen fuel. The challenge remained: how to produce and store 100% green hydrogen locally.
We had early supporters. The President of Vendée’s Energy Syndicate immediately believed in our project. We were able to install our first wind turbines in Bouin to power our hydrogen production site. It was a pivotal moment, allowing us to test our concept in a marine environment, which was always our long-term goal.
Lhyfe
A first €8 million fundraising round
In 2019, a key turning point came—just the beginning of the adventure. Lhyfe raised an impressive €8 million, one of the largest seed rounds in Green Tech that year.
“Six months after this funding round, the COVID-19 pandemic hit. While everything stopped, we kept going, and when the world reopened, we were ready, with an operational factory—just as national hydrogen plans began to materialize. We were ready to meet the demand!”
100% green hydrogen production, made in France
The story continued in Vendée, where Lhyfe set up its first industrial site in Bouin in early 2020. After a year of testing, by 2021, the company was producing hundreds of kilograms of renewable hydrogen daily, thanks to an electrolyzer powered by nearby wind turbines.
That same year, Lhyfe supplied green hydrogen to a multi-energy fueling station in La Roche-sur-Yon, serving a bus line, municipal vehicles (e.g., garbage trucks), and the general public.
“We were proud to scale up to industrial level and offer a solution accessible to both municipalities and industries committed to energy transition.”
2022: A landmark year
After several successful funding rounds between 2019 and April 2022, Lhyfe went public in May 2022 on Euronext Paris, aiming to become a European leader in green hydrogen production.
“We raised €118 million, right at the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, in a highly challenging context. But we pressed on, which allowed us to hire extensively and make Lhyfe more visible to the public. This was a major turning point for the company.”
SeaLhyfe: From onshore to offshore green hydrogen
In September 2022, Lhyfe ventured into uncharted waters—the ocean, with the launch of SeaLhyfe in Saint-Nazaire.
“Adapting our equipment for the marine environment was a huge challenge. We had to ‘marinize’ our production process. Typically, hydrogen plants are stable and operate under controlled conditions. Here, we introduced motion, corrosion, and faced two storms with 12-meter waves… it was an emotional rollercoaster, but it helped us optimize our solution to be compact and resilient.”
The adventure continues!
Lhyfe’s growth shows no signs of slowing. Between 2023 and September 2024, new production sites opened in France and Germany, with projects expanding in Sweden, Spain, and the UK. Lhyfe now also supplies fueling stations that service freight trucks in major retail logistics chains.
They’ve also launched pilot projects for producing e-methanol from green hydrogen to decarbonize maritime transport, notably at the Grand Port Maritime of Nantes Saint-Nazaire.
Asked whether he would do it all again, Matthieu Guesné answers without hesitation:
“Absolutely! Of course, you make mistakes, but the key is the team. At Lhyfe, we don’t see people as resources, but as essential partners in our success. It’s this team culture that enables us to move mountains.”