Qair, a European independent renewable energy company, announced the construction of its first H₂ refueling station (HRS) in France. The station, set to be operational by the end of the year, marks a significant step toward the decarbonization of heavy transport in Europe. It echoes the group’s similar initiatives developed in Iceland, highlighting the company’s culture of cross-regional expertise, to drive continuous improvement and innovation across its projects.

Strategically located in the Méridienne Economic Activity Zone in Béziers, in the south of France, the station will provide up to 600 kg of renewable H₂ per day. It will primarily serve the local public bus fleet and will be supplied by Hyd’Occ, France’s largest renewable H₂ production unit, currently under construction by Qair in Port-La Nouvelle.

The Béziers station is a critical node of the “Corridor H₂,” an initiative led by the Occitanie Region which is backed by the European Investment Bank, and the European Union via the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF). 

This initiative aims to decarbonize European freight transport at the southern end of the North Sea to Mediterranean Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) corridor, utilizing H₂ sourced from renewable energy. The TEN-T is itself a European Union policy which aims at planning and developing a seamless, efficient, and high-quality multimodal transport network throughout the EU.

Coupled to its massive production unit Hyd’Occ, Bezier’s refueling station constitutes a fully integrated renewable H₂ production, transportation, and distribution network. 

With a first 20-MW phase, Hyd’Occ will generate at the end of 2025 2,700 tpy of renewable H₂, avoiding 27,000 tpy of CO₂ emissions. A second phase will expand capacity to 40 MW, doubling production to 5,400 tpy.

A simultaneous H₂ infrastructure expansion in Iceland. Beyond this French initiative, Qair is also advancing a H₂ infrastructure project in Iceland. The Blær project, initiated with the purchase of two H₂ refueling stations for trucks and passenger vehicles in the greater Reykjavik area, will see the development of four more in Reykjavik, Akureyri, Egilsstaðir, and Freysnes over the next three years. With this purchase, Qair now owns the world’s first commercial H₂ refueling station, built in 2003, gaining the experience of a pioneering HRS operator.

To support this growing network, Qair is developing a 2-MW H₂ electrolysis plant in Grundartangi, a key industrial hub in Iceland, as part of a larger-scale electrolysis initiative.

With these developments, the Group is reinforcing its commitment to building robust green H₂ ecosystems across Europe and beyond, drawing on the international collaboration and knowledge sharing of its local expert teams. These projects will serve as models for deploying H₂ infrastructure at scale and support European decarbonization ambitions.

As an independent renewable energy company, Qair ambitions to continue leveraging its expertise and develop integrated solutions—from production to distribution—to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy.