Finland
Country: Finland
Document type: National Roadmap
Title: National Hydrogen Roadmap for Finland
Summary Points:
- Business Finland is the Finnish government organisation for innovation funding and trade, travel and investment promotion.
- The Roadmap undertakes a SWOT analysis of hydrogen opportunities in Finland and identifies areas where use of low-carbon hydrogen may be gradually increased:
- Strengths include good wind resources for both onshore and offshore energy production, a strong transmission grid and established use of hydrogen in industrial activities.
- Weaknesses include higher electricity prices compared to neighbouring Nordic countries (Sweden and Norway), little hydrogen use outside of industrial applications, and limitations on geologic storage prospects (i.e., no salt caverns).
- Opportunities for deployment of low-carbon/green hydrogen include:
- Refining and bio-fuels – presently based on using fossil-based hydrogen but could use clean hydrogen consistent with the current Renewable Energy Directive (RED II) (though the Roadmap notes the value of this market is unpredictable)
- Steel production – the road-map identifies use of clean hydrogen in steel production as a potential significant contributor to reduced emissions.
- Mobility – recommendations include to evaluate the potential use of clean hydrogen in selected heavy transportation vehicles and mobile machinery and support for small-scale demonstrations.
- Storage and transportation – evaluate storage options such as rock-lined caverns and pipeline storage; Overall, the use of green hydrogen mostly in large industrial facilities favours use of centralised electrolyser units with transport to smaller consumers initially by hydrogen tube trailers followed by dedicated pipelines combined with tube trailers.
- The Roadmap notes the total potential for green hydrogen production in Finland is between 100,000 – 150,000 tonnes in 2030 (without new use in industry or traffic) with production likely to be concentrated around present locations.
In February 2023, the Finnish Government adopted a resolution on hydrogen which describes Finland’s objectives regarding hydrogen and the measures to promote them. Finland’s goal is to become the European leader in the hydrogen economy in the entire value chain. The Government release notes that Finland has the capacity to produce at least ten per cent of the EU’s emissions-free hydrogen in 2030.
In June 2023, the H2 Cluster Finland released its Clean Hydrogen Economy Strategy for Finland, developed in collaboration with officials, industry unions, and companies involved in the entire hydrogen value chain. In its release of the report, the Cluster notes that Finland can be able produce 3 million tons of hydrogen annually by 2035.
Finland’s Recovery and Resilience Plan allocates €136 million for investment in low-carbon hydrogen along the hydrogen value chain as well as in carbon capture, storage and recovery. (Note: the Recovery and Resilience Facility is at the heart of the EC’s REPowerEU Plan implementation and funding.)
In December 2023, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment announced investment support for three new energy technology demonstration projects, including a project involving the conversion of renewable hydrogen into renewable liquefied methane for transport use and the utilisation of heat for electricity production (award of €26.91 million in investment aid). Announcements on clean energy project funding in December 2022, including allocation to hydrogen-related projects, can be found here.
Reviewed: January 2024