Our history
SOTEN established by Marc Haffner on the legacy of the family business originally created in 1975. Focus: Project management and engineering for cogeneration energy optimization projects at thermal power plants.
1st cogeneration project (12 MW) near Nantes, France
Start of SOTEN’s business expansion, with a growing number of projects in France, Europe, and Africa, in a variety of industries (dairies, ceramics, paper mills, mining operations in particular) over the following years, for a total of 40 projects representing 600 MW of installed capacity
Decision by SOTEN to focus on biomass residues and waste-based projects exclusively, including incineration plants
Marc Haffner’s first “contact” with thermolysis, a chemical process based on the bubbling fluidized-bed reactor technology initially developed by German chemist Fritz Winkler
SOTEN delivers the 1st wood-fired cogeneration project (sawmill residues, 4 MW) ever built in France
Philippe Haffner joins SOTEN
Start of R&D on HYNOCA®, the solution for producing renewable hydrogen from biomass thermolysis
Haffner Energy established by Marc and Philippe Haffner in Vitry-le-François (Grand-Est region) to leverage SOTEN’s expertise into developing turnkey solutions for renewable energy production from the thermolysis of biomass residues
First round of financing (EUREFI is a founding investor)
Registration of the first patent families on HYNOCA®
Projects funded by ADEME and Bpifrance
Second round of financing
Third round of financing, with several new investors acquiring a stake in the Company
1st R-HYNOCA® contract in Strasbourg
Registration of 15 patent families, with 80 international patents
30th anniversary of Haffner Energy
Acquisition of the JACQUIER steelmaking and assembly plant near Vitry-le-François, providing Haffner Energy with its first industrial tool for the manufacture and assembly of its modules
Launch of SAFNOCA®, an integrated solution paving the way for mass production of competitive Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)
Energy Decarbonation Prize awarded to HYNOCA® (INOVANA regional competition)
Launch of the new SYNOCA® offer, directly derived from HYNOCA®, with a high capacity (20 MW and above), and designed to replace fossil natural gas in industry
Haffner Energy selected by U.S. clean-energy technology incubator Greentown Labs in Houston, Texas, where the Company is hosted
Presentation of the Factor’Hy project, the first high-capacity plant in Saint-Dizier (Grand-Est Region) to assemble renewable gas and hydrogen production modules, with financial backing from the French government (France 2030 program operated by Bpifrance) and support from the GIP Haute-Marne, Europe and the Grand-Est Region
Breaking ground on the new testing and training center in the Vitry-Marolles business park (Marne) near Haffner Energy’s headquarters, as announced in Q4 2023. This center is designed to operate for 8,000 continuous hour per year, including testing different types of biomass supplied by customers. The plant will display the full range of possibilities offered by Haffner Energy’s technology: production of renewable syngas, renewable hydrogen, even the co-production of electricity, biochar, and biogenic CO2 from the gasification of biochar.
Renewable syngas starts being produced at the new testing and training center in the Vitry-Marolles business park (Marne).
Next step: producing renewable hydrogen before the end of the year.