Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on February 21, 2025
By Johan BODINIER and Antonis Pothitos
(Reuters) - (This story has been corrected to rephrase the headline and to clarify that two out of six projects are most likely to be prioritized, not that only two may move forward, in paragraph 1 and to add the dropped word 'probably' in the CEO's quote in paragraph 4)
France's Air Liquide identified two out of six previously awarded hydrogen projects for the U.S. Department of Energy as most likely to be prioritised after President Donald Trump froze funding on clean energy projects, it said on Friday.
Air Liquide was chosen in 2023 as a partner for six clean hydrogen hubs planned by the DOE, which was to allocate $7 billion for them under the bipartisan infrastructure law signed by former President Joe Biden.
However, Trump has placed holds on tens of billions of dollars in congressionally-approved spending, including those from the bipartisan law and Biden's Inflation Reduction Act.
"After meeting with the American teams a few days ago, two of the hubs around hydrogen from natural gas with carbon capture are probably on top of the list to be pursued," CEO François Jackow said during a media call.
The future of the other four hubs will be largely dependent on the new administration's decisions on renewable energy policies, he added.
A beneficiary of the IRA, Air Liquide has been investing big in the U.S. clean energy transition, including a partnership with ExxonMobil to enhance the production of low-carbon hydrogen and ammonia at the oil major's facility in Baytown, Texas.
Jackow said that while the project with Exxon was not "absolutely decided yet", both parties continued to work on it, with final decision expected in the second half of 2025.
He also noted that Air Liquide's U.S. business was not limited to hydrogen. Last year it announced investments related to industrial gas supplies to chipmaker Micron Technology and to LG Chem's U.S. electric vehicle battery plant.
"It is likely that there will be no major announcements in the next six months in the battery sector," Jackow said, but added he was "extremely confident" with the customers whose projects the company was already working on.
He said Trump's potential tariffs would have "very little impact" on Air Liquide's U.S. business, which makes up around one-third of its total sales, thanks to local sourcing of materials.
(Reporting by Johan Bodinier and Antonis Pothitos in Gdansk; Editing by Milla Nissi)
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