EU supports the Baltic Sea Hydrogen Collector

The gas transmission system operators Gascade and Gasgrid Finland, together with the fund manager Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), are jointly developing the Baltic Sea Hydrogen Collector (BHC) project. As the consortium announced, the European Commission is supporting the project’s preliminary planning phase (Pre-FEED) with a grant of €15.3 million from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) program.

The BHC is designed as an offshore pipeline that will connect the Finnish and German markets for renewable hydrogen. Classified as a Project of Common Interest (PCI), it is considered an important milestone for Europe’s energy transition and hydrogen supply security within integrated energy markets. The German section of the BHC has already been incorporated into the officially approved national hydrogen core network.

The EU funding will be used to finance studies aimed at exploring the potential of the BHC as a future cross-border hydrogen transport corridor. This phase will examine possible connections between Finland and Germany. In cooperation with the Swedish project partner Nordion Energi, an infrastructure extension to Sweden will also be assessed in a later project phase.

“Finland offers excellent conditions for large-scale wind energy generation, the production of green hydrogen, and the development of a hydrogen value chain,” says Sara Kärki, Senior Vice President Hydrogen Development at Gasgrid. “The BHC concept could help unlock this potential and create new growth opportunities for Finnish industry – particularly in the fields of hydrogen, Power-to-X, and the production of other hydrogen-based products.”

The project partners in Germany and Denmark also regard the EU’s commitment as an important signal. “The financial support and close cooperation with our partners highlight how crucial it is to explore various infrastructure options for Europe’s hydrogen future,” says Dr. Christoph von dem Bussche, Managing Director of Gascade.

The Baltic Sea Hydrogen Collector represents a project of European significance: in the future, it could serve as a key link between energy-rich northern production regions and the industrial consumption centers of Central Europe – making a substantial contribution to a secure, sustainable, and integrated hydrogen supply across the continent.