2024-09-16 22:02:03
It supports ecological change, digital transformation but also space exploration. Helium, the gas that fills children’s balloons, mainly has applications in advanced technologies. A pilot project for the production of helium in Western Europe was launched last week and could, finally, end the global supply that has been very limited until now.
This could be the beginning of the end of Western Europe’s total dependence on importshelium. Because until today, all the gas consumed – 32 million m3, the second largest product in the world – is exported there. The gas comes mainly from Qatar, Algeria and the United States, which means complex logistics: helium is very volatile and must be liquefied at -269°C to transport, then re-liquefied to be used.
Local production allows helium to be stored in a gaseous state, which significantly reduces its price, in an area where international prices have exploded in the last five years, before stabilizing in recent months at a high level that remains.
Reason: 15% of French interests
By producing locally, the carbon footprint is also significantly reduced, recalls Nicolas Pelissier, CEO of the startup. 45-8 Powerin the context of the pilot project launched last week south of Paris.
The pilot plant, launched on September 13, 2024, is only the first step: it should make it possible to validate the technical and economic feasibility of long-term production. The deposit could, however, provide 15% of France’s needs by 2028.
This production will be supplemented within two years – mid-2026 – by accessing another project in Germany, which can cover 5% of the country’s needs for about twenty years.
Double the demand by 2035
The new European supply will help meet the growing needs of the sector. Helium has, in fact, no satisfactory substitute and is essential in the world of advanced technologies, whether in medical imaging, aerospace or professionals. The latter sector, which accounts for a quarter of helium consumption, could grow by 13% this year, according to the World Trade Organization Statistics (WSTS).
In total, all uses of helium combined, needs could almost double by 2035 – or 322 million m3 – according to a market report published in August by IDTechEX.
The very focus of global supply however is the risk of supply disruption, either for geopolitical or logistical reasons. And this risk is even more problematic in view of the emerging demand. This is one of the reasons that led the EU to request that 10% of the helium consumed in Europe be produced by member countries by the end of the decade.
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