BalticSeaH2 - Southern Finland’s hydrogen valley development project is progressing as planned
Gasgrid is involved in the BalticSeaH2 hydrogen valley project, in which a large, cross-border hydrogen valley is created in the Baltic Sea region, with its center located in the area of southern Finland and Estonia.
The BalticSeaH2 hydrogen valley project will develop the first significant cross-border hydrogen valley in Europe. The goal is to create an integrated hydrogen economy in the Southern Finland and Estonian region, which enables the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions from various industries and the region’s energy self-sufficiency. The area is connected to the wider market of the Baltic Sea region, which improves investment conditions.
The joint hydrogen valley project between Finland and Estonia is now underway. The project will next proceed to the preparation of a financing agreement with the Clean Hydrogen Partnership, and the goal is to get the 5-year project started in the summer of 2023.
The project consortium consists of 44 partners from nine countries around the Baltic Sea area: Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. CLIC Innovation Oy and Gasgrid Finland Oy are co-coordinating the project. The total volume of the proposal is 33 million euro, and estimated EU grant amount 25 million. Clean Hydrogen Partnership allocates European Commission funding for hydrogen valleys under REPowerEU.
Gasgrid Finland actively participates in the European Hydrogen Backbone, (EHB) group’s vision work for the development of the hydrogen infrastructure and market.
Gasgrid Finland is also part of the Nordic Hydrogen Route project, which develops the hydrogen infrastructure and market for the Bothnian bay region together with Nordion Energi. In 2022, two more hydrogen projects in the Baltic Sea region were also announced. In the Baltic Sea Hydrogen Collector project, together with Finland, Sweden and Germany, the possibilities of building an undersea hydrogen pipeline are explored, which will improve e.g. availability of offshore wind power and storage capacity in Finland. The Nordic-Baltic Hydrogen Corridor project, on the other hand, prepares a preliminary report on the development of the hydrogen infrastructure and market with Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Germany. The goal of the projects is to create the best possible investment conditions to Finland.