First large-scale cross-border hydrogen network launches in Europe

Hydrogen

Finland – The Nordic Hydrogen Route is being launched by Gasgrid Finland and Nordion Energi.

Nordic Hydrogen Route will accelerate the creation of a hydrogen economy and new investments to support European energy transition and increase access to green and competitive domestic energy by 2030 by building a cross-border hydrogen infrastructure in the Bothnian Bay region and an open hydrogen market.

The companies want to build a network of pipelines that can efficiently transport energy from producers to consumers, ensuring that they have access to a competitive, dependable, and safe hydrogen market. Customers from hydrogen and e-fuels producers to steelmakers would be connected by an integrated energy infrastructure, which would allow them to create new value chains and products while also decarbonizing their operations.

Rising demand

By 2030, regional hydrogen demand is expected to exceed 30 TWh, rising to around 65 TWh by 2050, with much of this hydrogen produced using the Bay’s abundant onshore and offshore wind. More than 20 000 MW of wind power capacity could be built with this production. The Nordic Hydrogen Route would connect production and demand sites via a pipeline that would follow the coastline of the Bothnian Bay, with major branches to expected demand centers such as Gällivare and Kiruna. The infrastructure is expected to be operational by 2030, with a total length of around 1000 kilometers. The concept will be developed in collaboration with value chain stakeholders.

The Nordic Hydrogen Route responds to a growing consensus, reflected in recent EU policy frameworks, that hydrogen infrastructure planning must include integrated, cross-border connections between neighboring countries in order to fully realize the decarbonization potential.

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