Rally to the Valley: Establishing Hydrogen Value Chains for the Nordics

A hydrogen valley refers to a geographical area (region, port, island, industrial cluster) where hydrogen serves more than one specific need. They are designed to cover a substantial part of the value chain (production, transport, distribution, sometimes storage) to its use in various sectors (industry, mobility, energy). This project brings together knowledge from research and industry partners from Denmark, Finland, and Norway. The goal is to gather regional knowledge and bring it onto a global level for the maritime sector. The partners aim to develop key milestones for 2030 and 2040 which are required to establish functioning hydrogen value chains in the Nordics by 2050. The project uses the example of Rønne Havn in Denmark, a mobile Power-to-X facility developed by H2Carrier in Norway, and the fertilizer branch of St1 in Finland to demonstrate possible value chain components in highly detailed resolution. This allows concluding milestones for pathways towards a joint Nordic effort on developing a hydrogen valley.

The project delivers insights into the characteristics of optimal production of hydrogen, ammonia, and other electrofuels, including cost and cost structures for production, storage, and transportation. It will also provide knowledge about demand side characteristics, such as volumes, locational distribution, and emissions. Developing these deliverables involves the estimation of global hydrogen and hydrogen derivative trades and costs as well as the possible contributions from the Nordics. Based on this estimated demand in and supply of the Nordics, the development of an energy system model allows for determining infrastructure needs including transport and storage at aggregated regional levels and more detailed locations. To create knowledge on specific operational details and requirements, energy hub modelling helps to obtain specifics on port operations, energy hub structure, and logistics needs. As an overarching exercise, the project assesses markets and regulatory challenges including technological, safety, and socio-economic barriers to a hydrogen economy. The project uses the example of Rønne Havn in Denmark, a mobile Power-to-X facility developed by H2Carrier in Norway, and the fertilizer branch of St1 in Finland to demonstrate possible value chain components in highly detailed resolution. This allows concluding milestones for pathways towards a joint Nordic effort on developing a hydrogen valley.