New partnership promotes hydrogen from wood waste

Glovelier JU/Morges VD , January 2025

Romande Energie becomes a minority shareholder in H2 Bois. The joint venture between Groupe Corbat and Planair aims to produce hydrogen from wood waste from 2026. Thanks to the simultaneous production of biochar, CO2 will be permanently stored.

H2 Bois has a new minority shareholder. According to a press release, the Vaud-based energy supplier Romande Energie will acquire a 33.7 per cent stake in January 2025. Groupe Corbat, based in Vendlincourt JU and active in the timber industry, will then hold 50.3 per cent and the consulting firm Planair Vision SA, based in La Sagne NE, 16 per cent of the company they founded in 2021.

H2 Bois plans to build a plant to produce hydrogen from wood waste in 2025 and put it into operation in 2026. The production process also produces biochar, which can permanently store some of the CO2 contained in the wood. When fully operational in 2030, the plant will be able to produce a total of 450 tonnes of clean hydrogen from 14,000 tonnes of wood and wood waste and store 2,500 tonnes of CO2 per year. H2 Bois utilises technology from the French company Haffner Energy.

The hydrogen is transported to an industrial zone in the village via a 1.5 kilometre long gas pipeline. There it is used by industrial companies and for mobility via a petrol station. The biochar is used in agriculture.

For Romande Energie, the investment is a step towards a decarbonised western Switzerland. “This investment allows us to participate in a bold project that is a pioneer in Switzerland in the use of an innovative negative emissions technology,” said Jérémie Brillet, responsible for hydrogen at Romande Energie, in the press release.

Benjamin Corbat, CEO of Groupe Corbat, welcomes Romande Energie’s involvement. “We are looking forward to the start of production, but also to breaking new ground in the local use of wood.”

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