Finnish project developer Flexens has signed a letter of intent to lease land for a 300MW green hydrogen and ammonia facility in the city of Kokkola’s industrial park area. The project is expected to come onstream from 2027 and could feed into the planned Nordic Hydrogen Route—a 1,000 km transmission network in the Bothnian Bay area between Sweden and Finland that could establish an open hydrogen market by 2030.

The Nordic Hydrogen Route was launched in May this year by state-owned Gasgrid Finland and Swedish energy company Nordion Energi. Gasgrid Finland and Flexens plan to collaboratively study the development needs for local, regional and national hydrogen infrastructure.

300MW – Planned capacity of Kokkola green hydrogen project

“Kokkola's hydrogen production facility project is a concrete step towards realising the region's hydrogen economy and developing a comprehensive infrastructure and market for hydrogen transmission. Such pioneer projects also contribute to the continued development of infrastructure for hydrogen transmission,” says Olli Sipila, CEO of Gasgrid Finland.

“The market outlook for green hydrogen and ammonia is excellent,” says Berndt Schalin, CEO of Flexens.

Finland produces c.140,000–150,000 t/yr of grey hydrogen, the vast majority of which is used in oil refining and biofuel production.

The Kokkola plant's 300MW would meet a third of Finland’s 1GW of targeted domestic capacity, Schalin says.

“Hydrogen gas is already produced in Kokkola, which guarantees an established safe operating environment. In addition, there is a port in the area. Along the west coast, a type of ‘hydrogen hub’ is also being formed, as there is already the wind power and green electricity required for hydrogen production,” he adds.

Finland has little domestic ammonia production capacity and depends on imports from Russia, according to regional hydrogen cluster Both2nia.

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Author: Polly Martin