Genvia is a clean hydrogen production technology venture created in a unique private-public partnership model. Genvia combines the experience and expertise to pave the way to the creation of a cost-effective technology which will help enable the hydrogen economy of the future.

The Genvia launch event was held at the Béziers manufacturing facility in France, where the electrolyzer technology will be produced. Executives from the Genvia partners—who include the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), SLB New Energy, VINCI Construction, Vicat, and the investment vehicle of the French Occitanie Region, l’Agence Régionale de l’Energie et du Climat (AREC)—presented Genvia’s vision for the technology and the road map to achieve it.

The company was created with a clear vision to accelerate growth of the French hydrogen economy by leveraging next-generation CEA technology and SLB's industrial capability in France. Genvia’s vision is firmly aligned with European and global net-zero environmental and economic ambitions.

Hydrogen and the energy transition

As a major player in French energy research, the CEA's mission centers on energy transition, which is also a prominent focus for SLB, a technology leader in the energy industry.

With the technology development and commercialization capabilities of SLB combined with partners experience and expertise across the hydrogen value chain, Genvia is paving the way to accelerate the hydrogen economy in France and beyond.

Clean hydrogen is critical for the world to meet its energy transition goals and net-zero ambitions as a scalable, carbon-free energy carrier.

“Innovation management, the process of industrializing advanced technologies, and global deployment are fundamental in SLB's DNA,” said SLB CEO Olivier Le Peuch. “Today, our ambition is to use this DNA and play a leading role in the energy transition. Genvia is an integral part of SLB's global project in the decarbonization of energy systems and brings together major players of the hydrogen value chain.”

Clean hydrogen technology

The CEA has been exploring high-temperature electrolysis technology—from which the Genvia technology originated—for over a decade. The organization leveraged its unique expertise in ceramic materials, mechanics, fluid and thermal dynamics, system-level integration, and modeling to generate some 40 patents.

Genvia technology aims to achieve the highest system efficiency, resulting in significantly less electricity use per kilogram of hydrogen produced. The technology is the first of its kind that is fully reversible, giving it the flexibility to switch between electrolysis and fuel cell functions.

Genvia brings together outstanding science and advanced engineering to accelerate core technology development that will unlock affordable hydrogen production, energy storage, and fuel cell applications at scale.

One more step toward the future

At its formation, Genvia assembled a team of researchers, engineers, and experts from CEA and SLB located in three facilities:

• Grenoble, France—where a technology transfer center co-located with the CEA will accelerate the maturation of the technology.
• Béziers, Occitanie Region, France—where the first Genvia manufacturing pilot line will be co-located at an existing SLB manufacturing facility, to leverage SLB technology industrialization expertise and experience.
• Clamart, France—where a Genvia team, supported by SLB colleagues, will design the modules that will become Genvia’s first products.

In addition, Genvia will be able to access the partners' global network of science and engineering expertise, such as the collaboration with other SLB technology centers in Europe and Japan.

Accelerating the impact

Genvia’s ambition to propel a fast pace of adoption for its technology will focus on efficiency, performance, and its adaptability to different use cases.

“An important objective is to enable our clients to produce clean hydrogen for less than $2/Kg, making clean hydrogen competitive with that produced from fossil fuels today,” commented Florence Lambert, Genvia CEO.

Genvia will orchestrate a series of demonstration projects with partners in different use cases for the industrial, energy, and mobility sectors. These demonstration projects will set the stage for the development of the entire value chain to use hydrogen as the preferred clean energy carrier. The demonstration projects are expected to range from 300 kW systems in 2023, to larger systems with megawatt capacities by 2024.

The manufacturing pilot plant will provide the process optimization for industrialization of the electrolyzer technology. The results of the pilot line and demonstration projects will drive the next steps, with the goal of constructing a full-scale Genvia electrolyzer factory in Béziers by 2025.

Learn more about Genvia.