German Energiequelle to work on its first hydrogen project in Finland

Energiequelle Finland, a part of German energy company Energiquelle, has received planning consent for its Oulu Green Hydrogen Park project from Finland’s city of Oulu.

As informed, the first phase of the company’s first public hydrogen project in Finland includes the construction of a hydrogen production plant with a maximum capacity of 5 MW and a hydrogen refueling station for buses and heavy commercial vehicles.

Karl Schultheis, Head of New Business Development at Energiequelle Finland, stated: “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 plant would be increased to 10-50 MW and hydrogen exports via the planned hydrogen pipeline and the Port of Oulu could be an option, if the needed infrastructure is available, Energiquelle revealed, adding that in the third phase, production would be further increased to an additional capacity of 100-500 MW.

The schedule and full size of the project are said to be highly dependent on the market situation and the infrastructure available in the selected greenfield site.

To note, Oulu has reportedly 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 a maximum of 1500 MW.

Nils Borstelmann, Managing Director of Energiequelle Finland, commented: “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.”

“From an international and European perspective, Finland has very good conditions and potential for the production of renewable energy and green hydrogen. For several years now, energy in Finland has been one of the cheapest in Europe and already today 95% of Finland’s electricity production is already emission-free and all new wind farms are also market-based, without any government subsidies. Affordable and clean energy are prerequisites for market-based hydrogen production, as hydrogen and its derivatives require a lot of energy. With its extensive land area, Finland also has great potential to significantly increase quickly the production of renewable energy, such as wind and solar power, as the electrification of Europe progresses.”

Schultheis remarked: “Finland’s national hydrogen strategy has set a target of producing 10% of all green hydrogen in the whole European Union, and Germany’s national hydrogen strategy has outlined a national demand for hydrogen and hydrogen derivatives of 95-130 TWh by 2030, of which around 50-70% (45-90 TWh) will have to be imported. Finland and Germany are perfect energy partners.”

It is worth mentioning that the Finnish state-owned gas transmission system operator (TSO) Gasgrid Finland is planning to establish a hydrogen transport infrastructure to connect Finland and Europe. In January 2025, all three of Gasgrid’s hydrogen transport infrastructure projects in the Baltic Sea area were awarded financial support from the European Union (EU).

The Nordic-Baltic Hydrogen Corridor project is developing hydrogen infrastructure connecting Finnish, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish and German markets. The Nordic Hydrogen Route project is developing a hydrogen infrastructure between Finland and Sweden along the coastline of the Bothnian Bay. The Baltic Sea Hydrogen Collector project is developing an offshore hydrogen infrastructure to connect the Finnish, Swedish and Central European markets.

As disclosed, these projects aim to create “excellent” investment conditions for clean electricity, hydrogen and hydrogen processing plants nationally and in the wider Baltic Sea Region.