LNG

Poland’s ORLEN and Ukraine’s Naftogaz Group have agreed to deepen their LNG cooperation by jointly using regasification terminals and transmission infrastructure across the Baltic and Eastern Europe, which would include Poland’s Świnoujście terminal as part of the wider logistics chain.

Poland’s state-controlled TSO Gaz-System is considering adding a second floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) to its planned LNG import terminal in Gdansk. The project is slated to start with 6.1 bcm per year of regas capacity and could be expanded by another 4.5 bcm to 10.6 bcm per year when it comes online, currently targeted for 2028.

Venture Global is advancing talks to ship more LNG cargoes from its Plaquemines terminal in Louisiana to Ukraine’s largest private energy company DTEK, as the war-torn country scrambles to secure energy this winter. Delivered gas could cost a premium to spot LNG imports into northern Europe.  

Verso Energy has reserved a site for a new plant to produce hydrogen (H2) and biogenic synthetic fuels at the Port of Oulu, in northern Finland. Similar production sites exist in various parts of France, and Verso's synfuels production process combines green H2 with carbon dixoide (CO2) recovered from nearby paper and pulp mills.

Electricity in Finland is among the cheapest in Europe: In the first half of 2024, the price of electricity for non-household customers in Finland was the lowest in the European Union at just €0.0939  per kilowatt-hour (€/kWh), given that most of it is derived from hydropower plants.

Using this electricity to produce H2 and related biogenic synfuels is becoming a lucrative business, not least because offtaker are situated very close to northern Finland - just a short shipping distance away across the Baltic Sea in Germany, Poland and Denmark, as well as in the Netherlands and the UK.

Cheap electricity, large talent pool

Asked why Verso chose Oulo as a location for its latest hydrogen plant, CEO Antoine Huard said "the region around the Finish port town is attractive because it provides an abundance of affordable renewable energy and biogenic carbon dioxide.”

In addition, experienced chemical researchers at Oulo University alongside large R&D investments in the area, ensure a “sufficient talent pool,” the Verso CEO said, and this offers the French company potential customers and subcontractors.

And last but not least, the Port of Oulu, with its rail and road links, provides good connections to the rest of the world.

H2-derivative projects already set up

Several other hydrogen production and H2 derivative projects have already been initiated in the greater Oulu region: Gasgrid Finland is planning to establish a hydrogen transport infrastructure to connect Oulu’s hydrogen production with the rest of Finland and other countries in northern Europe.

Verso Energy is hence keen to get its project off the ground, though Mr Huard cautioned the latest “land reservation is only a preliminary decision,” – a final investment decision (FID) will be taken at a later stage.