“Instant communication brings down energy costs, since overinvestments will be reduced.”
BalticSeaH2 intends to build the first significant, cross-border hydrogen valley in Europe. The goal is to create an integrated hydrogen economy around the Baltic Sea to enable self-sufficiency of energy and minimise carbon emissions from different industries. Combining local areas into a broader valley supports creating a genuinely integrated, interregional hydrogen economy, which has not been done previously on this scale in Europe.
Cybernetica's energy sector lead Marko Petron explains: "Cybernetica has extensive experience in the development of market-based ICT tools for the energy industry. In this project we are creating a digital market platform that will serve as a connection point between various parties within the hydrogen industry ecosystem."
Mr Petron continues: “Regional and market-based energy solutions are cost-effective for the consumer and enable the creation of new sustainable business models. Digital solutions enable near instant consumer interaction and feedback. Consumers can inform the market on what conditions and at at what price they are willing to buy. Furthermore, from a network perspective, this instant communication brings down energy costs, since overinvestments will be reduced."
The area between Finland and Estonia is an optimal location for a cross-border hydrogen market. The necessary infrastructure – natural gas pipelines, electricity grids, and active marine traffic – already exist in the Gulf of Finland. The project will also support the reduction of the carbon emissions from existing marine traffic.
All in all, the BalticSeaH2 project enables 25 demonstration and investment cases to showcase the different sectors of the hydrogen economy, including a significant amount of investments. By the end of the project, the production potential for hydrogen will reach 100 000 tonnes of hydrogen annually. The aim is that industries brought together by the project, will utilise and sell hydrogen and its derivatives together thus making the whole infrastructure more cost efficient and scalable.
BalticSeaH2 project started in the beginning of June and will last for five years. The consortium includes 40 partners from nine Baltic Sea region countries: Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. The project and consortium was prepared by Finnish CLIC Innovation, who is also the project coordinator. Gasgrid Finland is the co-coordinator. The total budget of the project is 33 million euros, with a 25 million contribution from the European Commission’s Clean Hydrogen Partnership Initiative.