EODev winner of the Bpifrance “First Factory” call for projects

On the occasion of the VivaTech 2024 show in Paris, Roland Lescure, Minister Delegate for Industry and Energy, Marina Ferrari, Secretary of State for Digital Affairs and Bruno Bonnell, Secretary General for Investment, disclosed on Thursday 23rd May the winners of the “First Factory” call for projects launched in 2022, which includes EODev. EODev filed an application in September 2023 with a project to set up a factory in Antony Pole, in the Île-de-France region, which is due to open by the end of 2024.

Organized as part of the France 2030 investment plan, this call for projects, supported and instructed by Bpifrance, operator of France 2030 for the General Secretariat for Investment (SGPI), aims to accelerate the emergence of the first industrial successes from industrial start-ups or innovative SMEs/ETIs. EODev was also actively supported in its search for the right location by the SEM (semi-public company) Investment & Territories of Île-de-France, in addition to the support it already provided to EODev's R&D.

The high quality of the project was highlighted by Roland Lescure during the announcement of the winners, as well as its ambition, which is fully in line with the objectives set by France 2030 ; with a roadmap recalled by Bruno Bonnell. The factory will accommodate EODev's electro-hydrogen power generators manufacturing activity, for both land and marine versions, as well as all its employees and skills, currently spread over two sites.

A true showcase of the company's know-how, it will also, in close collaboration with the town of Antony, be a tool for outreach, awareness and transmission, to make young people from surrounding schools and universities keen to join industrial developments and, in particular, the sustainable energies sector.

The installation of EODev's activities within the same space will also make it possible to support the development of the company in France and internationally, while creating jobs within the confines of Antony; a town whose geographical location and the quality of multimodal transport connections to Paris, the Île-de-France region, the rest of France and Europe, caught the attention of the EODev's directors long ago.

When the results were announced, Jérémie Lagarrigue, EODev's CEO, commented: "We are proud and honored to be awarded a grant from this call for projects. It is another step forward for the construction of a competitive French hydrogen sector and a real sign of trust in the strategy and vision of EODev."

Launched in 2021, the “France 2030” plan, with 54 billion euros deployed over 5 years, aims to develop industrial competitiveness and future technologies, with half of the funding being intended for emerging players, and the other half for decarbonization. It lists several objectives, including the development of a powerful and competitive French hydrogen sector, in order to achieve our objectives to reduce, between 2015 and 2030, 35% of our greenhouse gas emissions in this sector.

The national strategy for accelerating the use of decarbonized hydrogen, endowed with €9 billion and currently under review, marks a change of scale in the development of the hydrogen sector by supporting the deployment of hydrogen uses in local territories, and the innovation of equipment manufacturers and industrial players. In the words of the Ministry of the Economy, it “constitutes a priority line of investment for France, taking into account:

• environmental issues: hydrogen provides numerous solutions for decarbonizing industry and transport,
• economic issues: hydrogen offers the opportunity to create an industrial sector and ecosystem that creates jobs,
• energy independence: to reduce our reliance on hydrocarbon imports,
• technological independence: to promote France's assets in global competition.”