Baltic gas grid operators agree to speed up hydrogen infrastructure development
Clean Energy Wire
Nine gas transmission system operators (TSOs) from countries bordering the Baltic Sea have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that declares the aim to coordinate and facilitate the buildout of hydrogen infrastructure and also foster market development for the greenhouse gas-neutral fuel in the region, German gas grid operator Gascade announced in a press release. In addition to Gascade, companies include fellow German TSO Ontras Gastransport; Poland’s Gaz-System; Estonia’s Elering; Energinet in Denmark; Finnish TSO Gasgrid Vetyverkot; Lithuania’s Amber Grid; Nordion Energi in Sweden; and Latvia’s Conexus Baltic Grid. The companies will coordinate the development of infrastructure projects for the transmission and storage of hydrogen in the region and also share information about market developments and projects related to production and demand of renewable 'green hydrogen.' “The hydrogen infrastructure in and around the Baltic Sea must be planned and built in an integrated manner,” said Gascade's managing director, Ulrich Benterbusch. “This is the only way to leverage the hydrogen potential on our doorstep – both onshore and offshore.”
The Baltic Sea region has considerable renewable energy resources and thus the potential to supply up to 45 percent of the clean hydrogen production outlined in the REPowerEU plan by 2030, writes Gascade. Specifically, the region boasts substantial potential for onshore and offshore wind, which could be used for hydrogen production and to create a clean hydrogen market in the near future. Infrastructure is therefore now being developed to eventually deliver hydrogen from supply-rich regions to demand centres. While Germany is banking on sustainable green hydrogen in the future, it has limited potential to produce it on a large scale domestically. On the other hand, sparsely populated Finland, for example, has been shown to have a significant potential to produce green hydrogen for export to more crowded central Europe, according to a recent report commissioned by Gascade.
