2023-10-22 05:03:42
Belfort (AFP) – A bet on the future: in 1999, Belfort welcomed a research center on fuel cells, key equipment in the hydrogen sector. A quarter of a century later, the FC Lab still exists and remains in constant contact with manufacturers.
“Here, these are confidential tests,” said David Bouquain, deputy director of the FC Lab, smiling and closing the door, during a visit offered as part of the “Hydrogen business for climate” forum, organized in Belfort at the beginning of October. Behind the door, an industrialist is testing a fuel cell, a vector that transforms hydrogen into electricity.
The State is investing massively in this technology in order to decarbonize industry and transport. By 2030, it must invest 7.2 billion euros to reach 6.5 gigawatts of production capacity, or the production of 600 kilotons per year of carbon-free hydrogen.
The FC Lab is a support and research unit around hydrogen energy systems, which brings together more than 150 researchers and combines higher education establishments and research laboratories. It was born in 1999 under the leadership of Jean-Pierre Chevènement, then Minister of the Interior, and Claude Allègre, Minister of National Education, Research and Technology.
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Mr. Chevènement, himself a former deputy for Belfort, was convinced of the importance of a “link” between research and industry and remembers the national research and technology conference that he organized in January 1982. The 84-year-old statesman admitted to AFP that “many companies were reluctant”.
From the start, the FC Lab is therefore oriented towards “applied” logic, insists Marie-Cécile Péra, current director and university professor in electrical engineering at the University of Franche-Comté.
The idea of working on fuel cells was quickly adopted: “We knew very well that one day there would be a problem with the development of intermittent energies” – such as solar or wind power, the availability of which can vary – , explains Jean-Pierre Chevènement. A vector was therefore needed. This is the function of hydrogen and the fuel cell. Today, the laboratory is also working on the electrolyser, which transforms electricity into hydrogen and therefore makes it possible to “store” and transport current.
“The FC Lab is the largest European laboratory for systems dedicated to hydrogen energy,” continues Marie-Cécile Péra. The platform, now accessible to businesses, offers 600 m2 devoted to testing, including 16 test benches, for a power spectrum ranging from 500 W to 150 kilowatts. “It’s only here that we have these levels of power,” certifies the director. “We have the same level of requirements for an industrial service as for research activities.”
“National Hydrogen School”
The structure works with around fifteen SMEs and around ten large groups. It collaborated with the French fuel cell producer Symbio, a joint venture of Michelin and Forvia, in which Stellantis recently invested.
“Industrialists come with a problem,” explains Marie-Cécile Péra, and the FC Lab supports them for a period of six to 18 months, to remove “a technological barrier”. “The FC Lab is the missing link in the transfer of research skills to industry.”
This research is today “the breeding ground” for the hydrogen sector, summarizes Marie-Guite Dufay, socialist president of the Burgundy-Franche-Comté Regional Council. In the same “anticipation strategy”, the community will respond to a call for projects from the State to obtain the “National Hydrogen School” label.
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This label recognizes the organization of a skills and training sector. “We cannot have an ambition in terms of hydrogen if, at the same time, we do not anticipate the needs in terms of skills,” defends the president. The Region wants to offer a training offer “from job seekers to engineers”, including “continuing training”. The challenge, as the French hydrogen sector reminded us at the start of the school year: to fill 100,000 jobs in 2030.
© AFP
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