EU backs Finnish hydrogen pipeline plans

Posted by Admin February 1, 2025 Entertainment

The European Commission has granted €51m to Gasgrid and its partners for studies on three hydrogen transport projects.

The proposed pipelines are to deliver hydrogen from Finland to Sweden and to Germany via the Baltic states. Image: Tommi Pylkkö / Yle, MapCreator, OpenStreetMap

Finnish state-owned gas transmission system operator Gasgrid and its partners have gained key EU support for three planned hydrogen pipelines in the Baltic Sea region. The EU has earmarked just over 51 million euros of support for the projects.

The European Commission declared that all three projects will contribute to decarbonisation, meeting the EU’s climate and energy targets and “facilitating the creation of an integrated, competitive and transparent cross-border hydrogen market”.

A white van parked in snow next to a large light-coloured building with two white smokestacks and trees in the distance. — A hydrogen storage facility in Harjavalta (file photo). Image: Esa Syväkuru / Yle

The EU aims to cover around 10 percent of its energy needs with renewable hydrogen by 2050. Hydrogen is a clean fuel that can be consumed in fuel cells, producing only water. It can be created using a wide variety of resources including wind, solar, biomass or nuclear power.

3 projects in the pipeline

The Nordic Hydrogen Route (NHR) project received 29.4 million euros. The project is studying a 1,000-kilometer pipeline between Finland and Sweden along the coastline of the Bothnian Bay.

A map showing Sweden and Finland with black lines along the Finnish coast. — Map showing planned hydrogen pipeline route within Finland. Image: Mapcreator / Nina Bergman / Yle

The Baltic Sea Hydrogen Collector (BHC) project received 15.3 million euros for studies on a proposed undersea hydrogen pipeline connecting Finland and Sweden to Central Europe.

The Nordic-Baltic Hydrogen Corridor (NBHC) project picked up 6.8 million euros in support. The aim is to build hydrogen infrastructure from Finland to Germany via Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.

Investments and jobs in Finland

“This is excellent news for Finland, the Baltic Sea Region, and the European hydrogen economy as a whole,” Gasgrid’s Senior Vice President for Hydrogen Development, Sara Kärki, said in a statement on Friday.

“The decision shows that Finland and the Baltic Sea Region is a strategically important and very competitive region for the development of the hydrogen economy and support[ing] EU climate targets,” said Kärki, predicting that the pipelines will bring investments and new jobs to Finland.

Last year, the European Parliament and the Council of Europe granted Gasgrid’s projects the status of Projects of Common Interest (PCI). The EU’s Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) committee for EU energy projects approved the funding on Wednesday, based on a European Commission proposal.

According to estimates, gas could begin flowing along the NHR route between Finland and Sweden in the early 2030s.