Global industrial gas leader contributing hydrogen infrastructure, electrolysis scale-up, and catalytic conversion expertise to European decarbonisation research.
Linde is one of the world's leading industrial gas and engineering companies, contributing deep expertise in hydrogen production, gas separation, and chemical process engineering to EU research consortia. In H2020, they focused on hydrogen infrastructure deployment (refuelling stations, electrolysers, fleet vehicles), catalytic reactor design for CO2 and methane conversion, and carbon capture technologies. Their role is typically that of a large industrial end-user and technology validator, bringing real-world process engineering capability and infrastructure know-how to research projects that need industrial-scale testing and deployment pathways.
Core contributor across H2ME (hydrogen mobility), NewBusFuel (bus depot refuelling), ZEFER (fleet vehicles), HARARE (hydrogen in metals recovery), and REFHYNE II (100MW PEM electrolyser at refinery scale).
REFHYNE II alone received €15.3M — by far their largest project — focused on PEM electrolyser integration and refinery decarbonisation with grid balancing.
C123 (methane to propylene via OCM and hydroformylation), COZMOS (CO2 to fuels/olefins over zeolite-metal catalysts), and ROMEO (membrane-enhanced reactor optimisation).
ACCSESS project targets cost-efficient, replicable CCUS chains across pulp/paper, cement, and waste-to-energy sectors.
topAM explores ODS materials processing for 3D-printed high-temperature devices, relevant to Linde's gas processing equipment needs.
PRINTCR3DIT (3D-printed catalytic reactors) and C123 (modular reactor design with thermal control) demonstrate reactor innovation capability.
In their early H2020 period (2015–2018), Linde focused heavily on hydrogen mobility and infrastructure rollout — building refuelling station networks, supporting fuel cell vehicle deployment, and proving commercial viability (H2ME, NewBusFuel, ZEFER). From 2019 onward, their focus shifted decisively toward chemical conversion processes: CO2-to-methanol, methane-to-propylene via catalysis, and industrial decarbonisation through massive-scale electrolysis (REFHYNE II). The most recent projects (2021+) add CCUS and hydrogen-based metals recovery, signalling a broadening from hydrogen-as-fuel toward hydrogen-as-industrial-decarbonisation-tool.
Linde is moving from deploying hydrogen as a transport fuel toward using hydrogen and catalytic processes as the backbone of industrial decarbonisation — expect future work in green hydrogen at refinery/chemical plant scale.
Linde never coordinates H2020 projects — they consistently participate as an industrial partner or third party, contributing process engineering expertise and infrastructure access rather than project management. With 195 unique partners across 24 countries, they operate as a broadly connected hub, joining large consortia (typical for FCH JU and RIA projects) rather than small focused teams. This makes them an accessible and experienced consortium partner who knows how large EU projects work, but don't expect them to lead the proposal writing.
Linde has collaborated with 195 unique partners across 24 countries, making them one of the most broadly networked industrial participants in the hydrogen and chemical conversion space. Their partnerships span the full EU geography with no narrow regional bias.
Linde brings something most academic or SME partners cannot: industrial-scale gas processing infrastructure, real operating plants, and the engineering capacity to validate research at production scale. Their REFHYNE II involvement (€15.3M for a 100MW electrolyser at a working refinery) demonstrates they don't just test in labs — they deploy at the scale where it matters. For any consortium that needs to prove a hydrogen, CCUS, or catalytic conversion technology works beyond the bench, Linde is a credibility anchor.
