Hydrogen producer Lhyfe has secured a £24m (€28m) refinancing package it says will support its growth strategy, on the back of moves into the North East and Yorkshire.
The French firm announced the syndicated green bank loan worth €22.2m, and two finance lines worth €5.8m, in a move it said showed the confidence in its strategy. Lhyfe has its sights on becoming one of Europe's leading green hydrogen producers and is looking for industrial customers in the UK having first set up offices in the North East, and identified potential production sites in the region.
The Euronext Paris-listed company already has a green hydrogen facilities in France, including its latest in the Occitanie region which due to start production next year. And it has five additional plants under construction, mainly in France and Germany.
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Having set out ambitious plans for the firm's North East presence a year ago, UK country manager Colin Brown recently announced the opening of a Sheffield office as well, having identified the city and region as a hot spot for hydrogen research and supply chain work. The firm's strategy is to partner with companies that want to decarbonise their operations through use of hydrogen.
Lhyfe specialises in green hydrogen which is produced by the energy intensive process of water electrolysis which can be powered by renewable energy. As well as its onshore plants, it has built what it says is the world's first offshore electrolysis demonstrator - ‘Sealhyfe’ - which is a floating system that can connect with wind farms to bring about gigawatt scale production.
The latest financing deal follows Lhyfe's €110M IPO last year, and was structured by Crédit Agricole Group, and supported by BPCE Group, HSBC and Crédit Mutuel Océan.
Maria Pardo Saleme, Lhyfe’s chief financial officer, said: "We are very proud to have arranged this first syndicated green financing for Lhyfe, which becomes the first green and renewable hydrogen player in France to sign such a deal. In the nascent industry of large-scale green hydrogen production, this financing reflects the support and trust of our banking partners in Lhyfe's strategy and ambitions, at a time when the industrial scale-up is accelerating. It will enable Lhyfe to go on implementing its strategy of developing, constructing and operating production units, and paves the way for its becoming a leading player in the renewable hydrogen production space."
Lhyfe was advised by financial advisors Redbridge Debt & Treasury Advisory and law firm Linklaters LLP. Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank acted as bookrunner, documentation agent and green structuring advisor, which HSBC acted as credit agent and Watson Farley & Williams LLP provided legal advice to the banks.
