Drilling begins on Europe’s first-ever dedicated natural hydrogen well
Source：hydrogeninsight
French gas producer Française de l'Energie (FDE) has commenced drilling a natural hydrogen well in northeastern France — believed to be the first time in Europe an exploration well has been drilled specifically in search of H2.
FDE is now drilling the PTH-2 deep well in the town of Pontpierre in the Lorraine region in the hope of finding natural hydrogen deposits, two years after it found “significant concentrations” of H2 at one of its existing wells in the area, known as Folschviller 1A, which was drilled in 2006 as part of a research project into coal-bed methane.
That borehole found 15% hydrogen concentration at 1,093 metres, leading FDE and researchers from the company’s two partner institutions to estimate that H2 concentration would be at 98% at 3,000 metres.
“FDE is… taking a new step forward by directly targeting the hydrogen formation zone underground in order to measure the concentration of hydrogen at a depth of 3,000 meters and more accurately assess the associated volumes,” the company said in a stock market announcement earlier this month, when drilling commenced.
The company and its research partners — the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), France’s national geological survey (BRGM), the University of Lorraine and geological engineering firm Solexperts — were awarded €8.8m ($10.4m) for the new project.
Drilling of PTH-2 will take approximately three months, but FDE and its collaborators will continue measuring, analysing and interpreting the data for two years.
In addition, the drilling programme aims to test gas monitoring equipment made by Solexperts to certify hydrogen quantities in the well.
At the same time, FDE is moving ahead with efforts to obtain an exclusive exploration permit that covers a 2,254km2 area of the Lorraine basin. If successful, the gas production firm will carry out new H2 measurements in existing wells.
FDE has pipped explorer Helios Aragón to become the first company in Europe to drill a dedicated well for natural hydrogen exploration, after the latter missed its target to spud its first well, Monzón-2, in northern Spain in 2024.
Helios Aragón has long complained that what it calls Spain’s “anti-drilling” regulatory regime stands in the way of its ambitions.
Even so, in October Helios Aragón announced that the environmental review process for Monzón-2 has now entered into its final phase, with a decision from the regional government expected by the end of February 2026, opening up the opportunity for drilling to commence in the second half of that year.
However, research house BloombergNEF (BNEF) has warned that while there is major potential for naturally occurring H2, there is also considerable uncertainty, with potential for high costs depending on the concentration of hydrogen at a site and the distance from demand.