By Nick Hedley
Canadian pension fund Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec
(CDPQ) and French public service pension scheme ERAFP, along with a number of
other institutional and industrial investors, are participating in “the world’s
first and largest” infrastructure fund dedicated entirely to the emerging clean
hydrogen industry.
Hy24, a joint venture between FiveT Hydrogen and Ardian, has
raised a combined €2 billion (US$2 billion) for its first fund, it said in a
statement published on its website.
Industrial investors in the fund include Air Liquide, TotalEnergies,
and Airbus, while financial backers include CDPQ, ERAFP, the U.K.’s Border to
Coast Pensions Partnership, AXA, Japan Bank for International Cooperation, French
state-owned investor Caisse des dépôts, and the Development Bank of Japan.
Pierre-Etienne Franc, cofounder and CEO of Hy24, said:
“Hy24, through the Clean H2 Infra Fund, has rapidly gathered an impressive
group of industrial and financial leaders committed to moving the hydrogen
agenda forward significantly.
“With €2 billion of commitments, this fund will spur on the
deployment of up to €20 billion in assets of strategic value to the industry in
the next six years, performing for our investors and helping to decarbonize the
global economy. This creates the right support for the new and critical
hydrogen policy frameworks in our key geographies.”
Hy24 will invest in the entire hydrogen value chain, from
upstream projects such as renewable and low-carbon hydrogen production, to
downstream projects such as captive fleet and refueling stations, it said.
“The climate crisis and geopolitical turmoil in energy
markets require accelerating the development of hydrogen as the vector most
suited to decarbonize heavy mobility and energy-intense industries,” Hy24 said.
