The French company Lhyfe has announced that its production site in Bouin, western France, has been RFNBO-certified since May 23, 2025. This makes Lhyfe the first supplier in France to produce and distribute hydrogen in accordance with the new EU requirements for “Renewable Fuels of Non-Biological Origin” (RFNBO). The first delivery of certified hydrogen took place on May 28, 2025, to Les Sables d’Olonne.
The RFNBO certification guarantees that the hydrogen was produced in compliance with strict sustainability criteria. These include the exclusive use of renewable energy, production via electrolysis of water, and full accounting of greenhouse gas emissions over the entire life cycle – including transport.
Certification enables access to funding programs
Customers who source hydrogen from the certified Bouin site can now participate in national and European funding programs that are being gradually introduced. The certification is also intended to help improve the CO2 balance of the recipients.
“The market has been waiting impatiently for RFNBO hydrogen to be available in France, and that is now the case!” said Matthieu Guesné, founder and CEO of Lhyfe. “We are now in the process of certifying our two other French sites and our German site, and are continuing our roll-out to offer fully traceable green hydrogen to all of industry and mobility across Europe, to help them decarbonise their activities, in a completely transparent manner.”
Cooperation with three partners
For the certification, Lhyfe worked with three partners:
Atmen provided a digital platform that enables automated and precise traceability of production data. This platform consolidates information on the resources used in real time and generates detailed reports on CO2 intensity.
CertifHy developed the underlying certification system, which was approved by the European Commission. It is considered the industry standard for RFNBO certifications.
Tüv Süd acted as the independent certification body. The company operates throughout Europe and is one of the first to be approved for the CertifHy system.
Additional sites undergoing certification
In addition to Bouin, Lhyfe operates two other production sites in France, in Bessières (Haute-Garonne) and Buléon (Morbihan), which are also to be certified. The site in Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany, is also undergoing certification.
The Bouin site was commissioned in 2021 as the world’s first hydrogen production facility directly connected to a wind farm. The plant uses seawater and has an installed capacity of 1 MW. Lhyfe now operates two 5 MW plants in France, a 10 MW plant in Germany, and is currently building additional plants with 5 and 10 MW capacity. A 100 MW project in France received €149 million in government funding. In Germany, the company is working on projects with capacities of up to 800 MW.
Lhyfe is active in eleven European countries and has a project pipeline of 9.1 GW. The company recently secured €53 million for a portfolio of hydrogen projects and has attracted international investors such as Mitsui and EDPR.
