In Simon Karsikko, Finland, a hydrogen production facility with an electrical output of 300 megawatts is being planned. This facility will produce more than 20,000 tons of hydrogen per year and will be built by eFactory, a Finnish energy processing company that is part of the Storm Energy group established in 2020. The company’s new area occupation will be hydrogen production, and it plans to use its own inexpensive wind electricity to produce green hydrogen.
Behind this project is a Danish investment fund Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, which has invested more than two billion euros in green projects in Finland. According to Tuomas Candelin-Palmqvist, chairman of the board of Myrsky and eTehtaa, the Danish fund is not a partner in the company but rather an investor who gets a certain share of the electricity produced because together with Myrsky, they own part of the wind power projects. Myrsky has over 50 wind power projects around Finland and also plans to develop solar and wind power plants.
At the end of last year, there were 33 hydrogen projects under development in Finland, most of which were small-scale projects around 20 megawatts like P2X’s Harjavallan plant. However, larger electrolysis facilities are planned for Kokkola and Kristiinankaupunki in 2030 with one thousand megawatts each. These plants will produce either hydrogen or ammonia and liquefied hydrogen. Plug Power owns both projects and is one of Europe’s largest players in the hydrogen market.
In Simo Karsiko, eTehdas has entered into an agreement with the municipality to start hydrogen production near the southern border of Kemi city. The cost estimate for this project is close to one billion euros and eTehdas is currently looking for a financing partner for it. One option for financing could be Danish money as Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners has already shown interest in investing in green projects in Finland.
In addition to this project, eTehdas also plans to build an industrial-sized battery warehouse on Cape Simon Karsiko where wind electricity could be stored.
The construction of this large scale hydrogen plant would bring about significant economic benefits for Simo as well as Finland as a whole by creating jobs and promoting sustainable energy solutions.
It’s worth noting that while Hydrogen production is still relatively expensive compared to traditional fossil fuels such as natural gas or coal; recent advancements have made it more cost-effective and accessible through government incentives and subsidies which encourages more companies like eTehdas to invest on these types of renewable energy solutions
