Gas grid operators around the Baltic Sea want to speed up hydrogen infrastructure development

Nine gas transmission system operators from countries bordering the Baltic Sea have signed a memorandum of understanding expressing their interest in coordinating and simplifying the development of hydrogen infrastructure and contributing to the growth of the region’s market for the fuel. The foreign news outlet Clean Energy Wire reported, citing German gas transmission system operator Gascade.

In addition to Gascade, the memorandum of understanding was signed by another German gas pipeline operator, Ontras Gastransport, Poland’s Gaz-System, Estonia’s Elering, Denmark’s Energinet, Finland’s Gasgrid Vetyverkot, Lithuania’s Amber Grid, Sweden’s Nordion Energi and Latvia’s Conexus Baltic Grid.

The companies plan to coordinate the development of projects focused on hydrogen transport and storage, and to share information on the development of the hydrogen market and on projects related to green hydrogen production or demand.

“Hydrogen infrastructure in and around the Baltic Sea must be planned and built in a coordinated way. This is the only way to harness the potential of hydrogen available to us both onshore and offshore,” said Gascade CEO Ulrich Benterbusch.

The Baltic Sea region has significant potential for renewable energy sources, particularly onshore and offshore wind farms, and could provide nearly half of the planned clean hydrogen production for 2030 set out in the REPowerEU plan, according to the published information.

One of the countries keen to make extensive use of hydrogen from the region is Germany. On the other hand, countries with significant potential to export hydrogen include Finland.