Chinese fuel cell firm REFIRE to help deliver €2bn in European hydrogen projects with Hy24
Hy24, the world’s largest hydrogen infrastructure fund manager, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with REFIRE, the Shanghai based fuel cell systems integrator, to accelerate the deployment of hydrogen mobility and power projects – starting in Europe.
The agreement, announced on 25 July 2025, will see the two firms combine Hy24’s investment pipeline with REFIRE’s systems engineering expertise and 300 million kilometres of logged operational data to deliver what they describe as “bankable hydrogen projects.”
€2bn infrastructure fund meets 300 million km of real-world data
REFIRE, listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HK.2570), supplies end-to-end hydrogen solutions across both upstream and downstream applications – from PEM and alkaline electrolysis to turnkey fuel cell systems for heavy-duty trucks, buses, and stationary power. To date, the firm says its fuel cell systems have been deployed in more than 7,000 vehicles globally.
Hy24, created in 2021 as a joint venture between Ardian and FiveT Hydrogen, manages over €2 billion in capital dedicated to clean hydrogen deployment.
Its flagship Clean Hydrogen Infrastructure Fund is backed by more than 50 industrial and institutional investors and is focused on large-scale production, distribution, and end-use projects across Europe and other major markets. A second fund supports hydrogen equipment and technology developers.
Focus on heavy-duty mobility and industrial power
The collaboration will initially focus on European markets – specifically in heavy-duty mobility and industrial power – where the companies see a shortfall between ambitious hydrogen targets and commercial project delivery.
The aim is to align REFIRE’s technical and systems integration capabilities with Hy24’s capital, helping to accelerate projects at a commercial scale.
REFIRE’s CEO Robin Lin Qi said the partnership brought together “a shared vision to gather the critical mass of industry leaders” needed to scale hydrogen deployment. Hy24 CEO Pierre-Etienne Franc said the collaboration would help “build bridges” between European and Chinese industrial players and unlock further investment in decarbonising the mobility sector.
The firms will set up joint working groups to explore specific deployment opportunities, with more formal partnership agreements expected to follow.
While the focus is initially on Europe, both companies signalled broader global ambitions as part of the collaboration.
