Air Liquide, through its majority owned joint-venture Air Liquide Far Eastern (ALFE), has completed the first phase of the construction of the hydrogen electrolyzers it has set to build in the Science Parks of Tainan and Hsinchu in Taiwan. Announced in April 2020, as part of a larger 200 MM euro investment, these capacities will be able to produce up to 5,000 Nm³ of ultra-high purity hydrogen per hour. After successfully reaching the Phase 1 commissioning milestone, Air Liquide will continue the construction of its Phase 2 to Phase 5 hydrogen electrolyzer plants in Taiwan over the next 2 years for a total capacity of 25 MW.

These production plants will enable Air Liquide to meet the emerging demand for ultra-high purity hydrogen for Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography (EUV) applications and leverage a more environmentally-friendly production process of hydrogen to support the environmental objectives of the major semiconductor industry customers in Taiwan.

Once the whole project is completed and the hydrogen plants are supplied with renewable energy, over 35,000 tons of CO₂ direct emissions will be saved annually when compared to traditional hydrogen production processes.

This new local and reliable low-carbon hydrogen supply will further reinforce Taiwan’s leading position in the semiconductor industry. Moreover, this new hydrogen production plant - the third operated by Air Liquide in Taiwan - will also allow the promotion of low-carbon hydrogen for fuel cell applications, to support the emergence of hydrogen storage or mobility projects in the region.