Finnish energy supplier Helen has taken the final investment decision (FID) to build a 3MW green hydrogen production plant in Vousaari, Helskinki.
The 3H2 – Helsinki Hydrogen Hub pilot project – is expected to open in 2026 to meet demand for heavy transport and local customers looking to decarbonise their operations.
Set to be located within the vicinity of Helsinki’s district heating network and Vuosaari Harbour, waste heat generated through electrolysis is planned to be used in Helen’s district heating network, which the firm says will allow the plant’s overall efficiency to reach over 90%.
Helen has confirmed to H2 View the site will use PEM electrolysers powered by its own renewable energy assets made up of wind, solar and hydro. The maximum hydrogen production capacity will be 400 tonnes per year.
Coming as the company’s first hydrogen project, the plant will also feature an onsite hydrogen refuelling station which will receive the majority of the hydrogen produced. The company expects the station to be open in 2027.
Describing it as “the first of its kind in the world,” Sari Mannonen, Senior Vice-President, New Business and Hydrogen at Helen, said the pilot was combining electricity, transportation, heating and hydrogen sectors, “as well as flexibility between them.”
Helen has not disclosed the selected electrolyser technology or the site’s production capacity. H2 View has reached out for confirmation.
The project was granted €8.25m of investment aid from Finland’s Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment. Helen is also using €292,500 of Environmental Penny funds – and optional tariff for its customers to fund some of its clean activities – for storage and transportation containers.
Helen has said the pilot will help it optimise its hydrogen and renewable electricity production, while offering the opportunity to ensure new hydrogen technologies are “functional.”
The company already has plans to move beyond the pilot. After construction of the 3H2 site, it intends to launch “large-scale hydrogen production” in the Vousaari power plant area.
Last June (2023), Helen alongside Neste Coporation, Gasgrid Finland and Vantaa Energy started preliminary studies for an industrial hydrogen valley in Finland’s Uusimaa region.
Read more:Four Finnish energy firms to develop industrial hydrogen valley
The four firms planned to combine infrastructure, storage and transmission for renewable hydrogen.
Connecting the dots: AECOM discusses hydrogen project FIDs
© AECOM
Financial close and final investment decision (FID) are terms we’ve heard tossed about regularly across the hydrogen industry. Or more specifically, the difficulties faced for green hydrogen project developers in reaching the threshold.
FID marks the stage in a project planning process where decisions to make a major financial investment is taken. In the context of large-scale projects of any kind, FID is typically reached before enabling the placing of major equipment orders or the signing of engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts.
The past year or so has seen an ever increasing shift away from the excitement of new and innovative technologies in hydrogen to a razor sharp focus on getting projects on the ground and getting moving towards the ever-desired hydrogen economy.
However, despite that focus, the reality is proving far harder than anticipated. The Hydrogen Council’s latest Hydrogen Insights report found that despite growth across the global project funnel, just 9% of total planned investments had reached FID between May 2022 and January 2023, a point reinforced by Sam Mackilligin, Hydrogen Lead at AECOM in Europe.
“FID is the process whereby the project owner makes their investment decision with or without the assistance of external funders. Projects are not getting to that point in the hydrogen space at the moment,” Mackilligin told H2 View…
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