Finland’s bold plan: 10% of EU hydrogen by 2030
Finland aims to contribute 10% of the EU’s clean hydrogen by 2030, becoming a leader in hydrogen production.
It’s no small task, but has the potential for great reward – over €34 billion to the Finnish economy by 2035, according to H2 Cluster Finland.
Clearly, hydrogen holds a major role in Finland’s future. But how will it achieve these goals?
The country’s first industrial-scale renewable hydrogen plant began operations earlier this year, and a number of projects have received support from the EU. Here’s just some of the hydrogen projects changing Finland’s relationship with clean energy.
Solar hydrogen
H2BRIDGE is a solar hydrogen project across Northern Finland and Sweden. It will target areas with major CO2 emissions with a scalable panel reactor system using printed photocatalytic panels, producing solar hydrogen.
The project is funded by Interreg Aurora, a new (partially EU-funded) programme for cross-border cooperation. It will involve local stakeholders, including municipalities and Sámi communities, to place environmental protection and community acceptance at the front of the project.
Collaborative solutions
H2 Springboard is an initiative to link companies together with the shared goal of integrating hydrogen. Led by ABB, a Finnish technology company, the programme enables grid operators, industrial end-users, system integrators, technology developers, investors, and research institutions to join the “hydrogen technology development ecosystem”.
The overall volume of the H2 Springboard’s project portfolio is over €150 million, and is supported by an additional €50 million from Business Finland. This is a government organisation created with the goal of encouraging trade, tourism and investment.
Why Finland?
Out of all the countries in the EU, why would Finland be the one contributing 10% of the EU’s clean hydrogen by 2030?
Finland already uses clean energy at a rate higher than any other country in Europe (twice the rate in 2020). The overabundance of clean energy has seen costs fall dramatically, and due to its already electric grid, hydrogen grid integration and electrolysis itself will be much less costly.
Electrolysis on a large scale will require a considerable amount of freshwater, and Finland is one of the water-richest countries in the world. Plus, Finland is one of the only countries with access to all the necessary materials for battery production – in fact, it has so much it makes up 66% of the EU demand for cobalt ores.
In conclusion
These are only some of the hydrogen projects in development across Finland. H2 Cluster Finland currently runs 60 hydrogen projects across the country, with an estimated electrolyser capacity of 13,000 mW. These are largely for green hydrogen production, but also include a refuelling station in Oulu and grey hydrogen (using methane) production sites.
Hydrogen has the potential to transform Finland into a leader of European clean energy, creating thousands of jobs (up to 200,000 according to Green Recruitment Company) and injecting estimated billions into the Finnish economy.
