Finland is to develop national hydrogen infrastructure and link it with other countries in the Baltic Sea region.

State-owned grid operator Gasgrid will establish a subsidiary called Vetyverkko to develop and operate the network.

“Advanced energy networks will enable Finland’s competitiveness on the global market in the creation of value chains, investments and jobs in the hydrogen economy,” says Gasgrid Finland’s CEO, Olli Sipila.

The move is a response to the European Commission’s RepowerEU plan, which has set ambitious targets for deployment of renewables and hydrogen, with 20mn t/yr of supply targeted for the latter by 2030.

The specifics of Finland’s deployment will be further elaborated in the country’s climate and energy strategy, which the government is drafting.

“Advanced energy networks will enable Finland’s competitiveness on the global market” Sipila, Gasgrid

The infrastructure plan will build on an existing scheme for a hydrogen route between Finland and Sweden. The first sections of that pipeline network are expected to be operational by 2030, with 1,000km of dedicated hydrogen pipelines serving 65TWh of demand in the Bothnian Bay region by 2050.

A small cluster project at Ovako’s Imatra mill will also be incorporated into the wider national network.

Connecting to the backbone

The Nordic region is one of five networks envisaged by the European Hydrogen Backbone (EHB) consortium to connect hydrogen supply with demand.

The size of the regional market is estimated to be 127TWh/yr in 2030, which corresponds to c.20pc of RepowerEU targets for hydrogen and about 38pc of the target for domestic hydrogen produced in EU.

The EHB envisages hydrogen infrastructure across five separate regions growing to become a pan-European network with a total length of 53,000km by 2040, largely based on repurposed existing natural gas infrastructure.

“The latest EHB analysis shows that the potential of the region of Finland, Sweden and the Baltic countries… is significant,” says Gasgrid Finland’s head of strategic analysis, Sara Karki.

“The hydrogen economy is therefore a very significant opportunity to the countries around the Baltic Sea with great renewable energy resources, space, and a forerunner position in the development of sustainable technology solutions.”

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Author: Tom Young