Energiequelle has received planning consent for a large-scale green hydrogen park project in Finland.
The park is the company’s first public hydrogen project in Finland and is to be developed in the city of Oulu, 600km north of Helsinki.
Once complete, it could have a capacity topping 500MW.
The first phase of the Oulu project includes the construction of a hydrogen production plant with a maximum capacity of 5MW and a hydrogen refuelling station for buses and heavy commercial vehicles.
Head of new business development at Energiequelle Finland Karl Schultheis said: “If the right market conditions are met, we expect the first phase to be ready by 2028.
“However, this is a major industrial project and investment, so the planning reservation we have now received is only one of the first steps towards making concrete investment decisions.
“In projects of this size, planning and studies are always carried out carefully.”
In the next phase, the capacity of the hydrogen production plant would be increased by 10-50MW and hydrogen exports via the planned hydrogen pipeline and the port of Oulu could be an option, if the required infrastructure is available.
In the third phase, production would be further increased to an additional capacity of 100-500MW.
The schedule and full size of the project is dependent on the market situation and the infrastructure available in the selected new greenfield site.
The city of Oulu has reserved a total of three new hydrogen production and processing plants (including the Energiequelle project) on the same industrial site, with a combined potential capacity of maximum 1.5GW.
Energiequelle Finland managing director Nils Borstelmann said: “We believe that Oulu’s strategy of bundling several hydrogen production operators in the same area is the right one, as it supports the development of hydrogen transmission infrastructure in the region and sends a clear message to the energy-intensive industry that they can count on hydrogen production in the region in the future.
“This is exactly the kind of predictable investment environment and confidence-building policies we hope to see from local, national and European decision-makers.”
Picture: A rendering of the Oulu green hydrogen park project