French hydrogen producer Lhyfe has successfully completed its first industrial combustion tests using green hydrogen to replace natural gas, marking a key step toward decarbonising hard-to-abate sectors. The company also announced its first hydrogen delivery to Spain, signalling an expansion into one of Europe’s fastest-growing green energy markets.

The combustion trials were carried out in Spain’s ceramics industry, a high-temperature process traditionally reliant on fossil gas. Lhyfe delivered 3 t of green hydrogen to the Valencia region over three weeks from its production site in Bessières, France.

“These combustion tests, using up to 100% green hydrogen, represent an important milestone for Lhyfe, which is thus supporting the first trials to decarbonise manufacturing processes in an industry that consumes a lot of fossil gas. We can now deploy this system in many industries that burn fossil fuels. In this way, we continue our mission to decarbonise as of today, as well as that of supporting manufacturers in their decarbonisation experiments,” said Lhyfe industry key account manager Frédéric Naudi.

The tests demonstrated that hydrogen can fully replace natural gas in industrial burners, with minimal retrofitting. The only required modification was the burner replacement. Lhyfe also developed a proprietary "mixing kit" allowing gradual introduction of hydrogen into combustion systems –f rom 0% to 100% – enabling broader adoption across high-temperature industries such as steel, glass, cement, and non-ferrous metals.

The company’s logistics network, including one of Europe’s largest fleets of hydrogen bulk containers, supported the transport of hydrogen to Spain. The Bessières plant currently has capacity to produce up to 2 t/d of green hydrogen, powered by renewable electricity.

Lhyfe's expansion into the Iberian Peninsula comes as Spain positions itself as a hydrogen hub. The company opened offices in Madrid and Barcelona in 2022 and is advancing a 15 MW green hydrogen project in Vallmoll, Tarragona, slated to go on line in 2027. The project was awarded a €14-million grant under Spain’s H2 Pioneros programme.

“Spain has several major advantages for the development of green and RFNBO hydrogen: government ambition, appropriate support mechanisms, large quantities of accessible renewable electricity, and manufacturers who are seeking to make their energy transition in order to remain competitive . . . The equipment we’ve developed for this project will be very useful for carrying out combustion tests with other industrial players and in other sectors looking to decarbonise,” said Lhyfe sales director for Spain, Franz Bechtold.

Lhyfe began producing renewable hydrogen in 2021 and has since gained recognition for pioneering onshore and offshore hydrogen projects. The company sees hydrogen combustion as a critical lever for reducing industrial CO₂ emissions, which account for about 20% of the global total.