A consortium led by French productivity solutions company for hydrogen Novacium, together with open innovation chemistry platform Axel'One and gas engineering company AD-VENTA, have secured funding from the Defence Innovation Agency and the Directorate General of Armaments for the Metagene green hydrogen project.

The funding, granted under the French dual-use innovation support programme called RAPID, aims to help the companies develop a self-contained, high-pressure green hydrogen production station using a solid and non-hazardous metallic fuel.

With a budget of €1.2-million, the project is subsidised at the maximum rate of 80% provided under the programme. The RAPID programme selects only a limited number of projects each year owing to its demanding standards.

The 30-month Metagene project started on September 1 as an innovative, patented process for producing green hydrogen without electricity. Hydrogen is produced for both civilian and military uses at the point of use from a solid metallic fuel based on aluminium and silicon, which releases hydrogen when it contacts water in the presence of an activator.

Unlike electrolysis, the reaction requires no electricity source and generates no greenhouse gases; it produces an inert solid by-product.

In its solid bulk form, the fuel is inert and not classified as a hazardous material, which considerably simplifies transportation and storage.

With a high energy density of about 1.25 m³ of hydrogen per kilogram of fuel, Metagene offers an alternative to conventional hydrogen production and transportation.

This technology has already been the subject of two industrial partnerships: a memorandum of understanding with recycled aluminium producer GLD Alloys in April 2025, aimed at securing a supply of low-carbon aluminium for the fuel, and an industrial cooperation agreement with AD-VENTA in December 2025, concerning the integration of the Metagene reactor into a high-pressure hydrogen dispensing station capable of delivering up to 20 kg of hydrogen a day.

RAPID funding will support the development and validation phase of this station, with the three project partners bringing complementary hydrogen expertise.

Novacium, the consortium leader, develops the metallic fuel and hydrogen generation reactor and manages the project. AD-VENTA, a specialist in high-pressure hydrogen systems, is adapting its compression and dispensing station to integrate this reactor. Axel’One, a collaborative platform dedicated to chemistry and the environment, contributes its gas analysis and characterisation capabilities, along with its experience in reactors and hydrogen purification.

"We bring together all the expertise required, from fuel chemistry to the high-pressure station, to take Metagene from the laboratory to an operational demonstrator," says Novacium COO and co-founder Dr Jed Kraiem.

AD-VENTA CEO and president Jean-Luc Mussot adds that Metagene is particularly well suited to decentralised high-pressure hydrogen production in remote environments and that the French funding will enable the partners to integrate Novacium's reactor into AD-VENTA's dispensing solution and validate its performance under real-world conditions.

MARKET CONTEXT

Metagene is being developed as the global green hydrogen market is poised to reach $500-billion in value by 2030. In the mobility segment alone, the hydrogen market is estimated at about €25-billion by that time, while autonomous energy systems for defence applications - such as drones, vehicles and bases - represent an estimated market of between €5-billion and €10-billion.

By producing hydrogen at the point of use, without electricity or major infrastructure, the solution avoids the costs and constraints associated with transporting and storing pressurised hydrogen, which today often exceed €50/kg. The fuel uses abundant, low-cost metals, aluminium and silicon, with a raw material cost of approximately €20/kg to €30/kg of hydrogen produced on site.

These advantages address practical needs that numerous sectors and applications have, including off-grid industrial sites, clean mobility, autonomous defence bases, communication stations and surveillance drones.

These are all applications in which decentralised, safe and competitive hydrogen production provides a decisive advantage.