Nordic Baltic – The Gas Transmission System Operators (TSOs) of Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Germany’s ONTRAS Gastransport GmbH (ONTRAS) have successfully completed a pre-feasibility study of the Nordic-Baltic Hydrogen Corridor (NBHC). This significant study, initiated in January 2024, defines the key conditions for implementing the NBHC, aimed at transporting renewable hydrogen between the six countries.

The next step for the TSOs is to initiate work on a feasibility study covering the project‘s detailed technical analysis, commercial and economic assessment as well as the detailed implementation timeline of the corridor.

The Nordic and Baltic region provides significant renewable hydrogen potential identified within the pre-feasibility study at the amount of approx. 27.1 million tons (Mt) of renewable hydrogen production (based on combined onshore and offshore wind and solar) by 2040. This creates a large hydrogen market creation and export potential towards continental Europe which the NBHC aims to address.

By 2040, the corridor is projected to transport up to 2.7 million tons (Mt) of renewable hydrogen annually between the countries. The pre-feasibility study indicated that the NBHC can be one of the first operational cross-border hydrogen pipelines in Europe. The NBHC pipeline is currently planned to be 48 inches (1,200 mm) in diameter, with several compressor stations and spanning approximately 2,500 km.

In April 2024, the NBHC was publicly granted the status of the project of common interest (PCI) by the European Commission as part of the ‘Baltic Energy Market Interconnection Plan for Hydrogen’ (BEMIP Hydrogen). The PCI status enables benefits such eligibility to apply for EU project funding and accelerated perming granting procedures.