European Commission allocates EUR 6.8 mln for Nordic-Baltic Hydrogen Corridor

  • 2025-02-04
  • BNS/TBT Staff

TALLINN - The European Commission has decided to allocate co-financing from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) to cross-border energy infrastructure projects under the Trans-European Networks for Energy (TEN-E) framework and the Nordic-Baltic Hydrogen Corridor (NBHC) stands out with a 6.8 million euro grant to support its feasibility study phase.

According to Estonian transmission system operator (TSO) Elering, this decision will significantly enhance establishing the hydrogen infrastructure that will connect Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Germany, forming a vital backbone for Europe’s green energy future. The competition for infrastructure funding in the EU is fierce, so this decision is a great testament to the quality and necessity of the NBHC project and showcase its potential to contribute to the EU's energy self-sufficiency targets and support the clean energy transition.

The 6.8 million euro CEF grant will help the NBHC project to execute feasibility phase studies across the respective countries. These studies will focus on various crucial aspects including pipeline routing, compressor stations planning, financial and economic analysis, environmental and safety permitting issues as well as investigations on an implementation timeline. These studies are expected to run until the end of 2026.

The NBHC is a joint project of six European TSOs, including Finland’s Gasgrid vetyverkot Oy, Estonia’s Elering, Latvia’s Conexus Baltic Grid, Lithuania’s Amber Grid, Poland’s GAZ-SYSTEM, as well as Germany’s ONTRAS. According to the participants of the project, this decision reinforces the Baltic region’s competitiveness in the hydrogen sector and confirms the project partners’ commitment to both national and international hydrogen infrastructure development.

According to Elering, the NBHC project’s success in securing this vital funding demonstrates the growing importance of cross-border collaborations in Europe’s transition to a clean and sustainable energy future. As the feasibility phase progresses, the project is set to become a cornerstone of Europe’s energy landscape, fostering a green economy and supporting the EU’s goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.

The Nordic-Baltic Hydrogen Corridor is a pioneering initiative designed to integrate renewable hydrogen across six EU member states. By linking production centers in the Nordic and Baltic regions with major demand hubs, the project will contribute significantly to decarbonizing energy systems, including hard-to-abate industrial sectors, and reduce carbon emissions by up to 37 million tons of CO2 equivalent annually by 2050.