22 April 2022
Large-scale hydrogen infrastructure to go cross-border in the Gulf of Bothnia with potential to speed up green transition
Gasgrid Finland and Swedish Nordion Energi today announced the launch of the Nordic Hydrogen Route. The Nordic hydrogen route plans to connect production with demand locations via a pipeline that follows the Gulf of Bothnia coastline, with major branches to expected demand centres such as Gällivare or Kiruna. The goal for the infrastructure is to be operational by 2030, with a final length of approximately 1,000 km, at a cost of SEK 25 to 30 billion.
Olli Sipilä, CEO of Gasgrid Finland said "In addition to catalysing regional economic growth and new industrial investments, the Nordic hydrogen route will make a significant contribution to Finland and Sweden's ambitious climate neutrality goals. It will also enable Finland and Sweden to become leading producers of clean alternative fuels for the aerospace industry by transporting hydrogen to new production sites”.
With new power lines taking 10 years to get planning permission and have installed, the CEO of Nordion Energi, Hans Kreisel, believes that an alternative could be to produce hydrogen gas out at the wind farms and then transport the energy in the form of gas to the industries, commenting “The large wind turbines planned in the Gulf of Bothnia are enormous. You can compare with a nuclear power plant in effect. It will be two to three times cheaper to transport energy as hydrogen than as electricity.”
OECD says Norway unlikely to reach its’ climate target
Norway is unlikely to hit its 2030 climate targets, the OECD states in a new, major review of Norwegian climate and environmental policy. At today's rate, Norway is instead set to cut emissions by 20%, the OECD estimates, only half that of its 40% target and even further off the more ambitious 55% aspiration. According to the report, Norway has one of the highest material consumption in the world, and faces significant challenges in achieving a circular economy.
The Minister of Climate and Environment, Espen Barth Eide described the OECD report as a useful tool in the work of achieving the Norwegian climate goals. “The report recognizes important Norwegian advances in green conversion, including through electrification of the transport sector and increased CO2 tax. At the same time, it points out that we have points for improvement in circular economy and land management, and that we should achieve a more comprehensive and integrated environmental management across different sectors. This is, in my view, wise and correct input that I support,” he said.
From our sponsor
Vattenfall and BASF participate in offshore wind farm tender with biodiversity conditions
Vattenfall will participate in the offshore wind farm tender for Hollandse Kust West (HKW) Sites VI and VII, partnering with BASF for Site VI. The offshore wind farms are of great significance for both companies in achieving their sustainability goals. The renewable electricity from Hollandse Kust West would be another important step towards Vattenfall’s ambition to create fossil-free living within one generation and would support BASF’s ambitious goal to reach net zero CO2 emissions by 2050.
Finnish startup raises €1.6M for carbon negative and plastic-free acoustic tiles
Backed by the Nordic seed-fund Maki.vc, the Finland-based startup Aisti has raised €1.6 million in a funding round. Aisti develops wood fibre based acoustic tiles that are carbon negative, easy to recycle and plastic-free, meeting the needs of modern construction. Aisti will use the funding to build a demonstration plant and product development, paving the way for the preparation of an investment for a large production plant.
Everfuel and Taulov Dry Port establish Denmark's largest hydrogen station
Everfuel's new hydrogen station will be located in Taulov Dry Port outside Fredericia, in what is known as Denmark's logistics centre, as large parts of the Danish transport and logistics sector have consolidated their logistics activities in the area.
Swedish heat pump sales up 12%
Despite concerns in the outside world, 12% more heat pumps have been installed compared with the same period last year. Unfortunately the industry says, there is still a strained situation in terms of components and semiconductors that the industry needs.
What we’re reading
- EU countries edge towards deal to share out emissions-cutting efforts (Reuters)
About Nordic Green News
The Nordic countries are some of the most dynamic and successful economies in the world. They are also leaders in sustainability, from renewable energy, biofuels, carbon capture and storage and the hydrogen economy, circular economy business models and battery development, the Nordics are pioneers in policy design, technology development and consumer uptake. Mundus Nordic Green News is covering this transition for the international community. Every day we curate the stories of most relevance to international businesspeople and policy experts from the flow of news. Mundus Nordic Green Indices summarise the meta-data from our daily coverage to enable easy tracking of trends. We supplement these with our own opinion pieces and commentary.
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