Skarta aims at being at the forefront of hydrogen economy – acquires the first new-generation hydrogen car in Finland for its use
Skarta Group Plc, a builder of a clean future, published the main directions for its new strategy in September. The objective of the company is to expand its activities in the value chain of wind power, solar energy and hydrogen solutions towards the development, construction, and ownership of overall projects in clean energy. Skarta’s growth is based on a strong competence in specialized construction, and it has, for example, participated in the construction of more than a hundred wind power plants.
In addition to wind and solar power, Skarta wants to highlight the standing of hydrogen economy as its strategic priority and operate at the forefront of future hydrogen economy. To show specific example, Skarta has acquired the first new-generation hydrogen car in Finland for its use. The Hyundai Nexo car is a green hydrogen fuel-cell powered car and the only thing coming out of its tailpipe is water vapor.
”We want to speed up the progress of hydrogen economy in Finland, even one car at a time. There is no refueling network for hydrogen cars in Finland yet, but Skarta aims at enabling the realization of various hydrogen projects. We want to show with our example that the development of green hydrogen technology, the production of hydrogen, as well as its adoption both in traffic and industrial use is of first-rate importance for the whole country”, says Tuomas Hirvonen, CEO of Skarta Group Plc.
Skarta is at the forefront of energy industry and the change of hydrogen economy
Skarta develops projects in clean energy in Finland and Sweden especially with its Near Energy concept that offers nearby-produced carbon-neutral electricity for the local use of municipalities and industrial operators. The production of wind and solar power grows rapidly in both countries, so they have an excellent change to produce green hydrogen for export as well.
”We see that green hydrogen provides excellent growth opportunities for Skarta’s business activities. Various hydrogen solutions are a seamless part of the use and storage of renewable energy. The municipalities we have worked with as a part of our Near Energy concept have been very interested in combining hydrogen solutions with wind and solar energy”, Hirvonen continues.
Skarta has a strong position in the potentially leading region of hydrogen economy
Skarta is headquartered in Oulu. The company has a strong position in the Bothnian Arc region that is a central region both in the production and consumption of hydrogen. For the hydrogen projects to be profitable, heat and oxygen that is originated in the production of green hydrogen must be utilized in full. Therefore, the location of production plants is essential. Regions in Kokkola, Raahe, Oulu, and Kemi-Tornio, where the heavy industry has concentrated in the Bothnian cost, are large potential consumers of hydrogen. As a result, the region may become one of the most important concentrations of hydrogen economy in Europe.
Norrbotten region in Northern Sweden that is part of the Bothnian Arc has a major role in the future hydrogen economy. There are several significant hydrogen projects starting in the area, such as the HYBRIT project for fossil-free steel by LKAB, SSAB and Vattenfall. Planned investments in carbon-free economy in the area amount to dozens of billions of euros. Skarta has a strong foothold in the market of demanding specialized construction of Norrbotten.
The University of Oulu has long traditions regarding the research of hydrogen, and the cooperation between private and public bodies has already been strongly developed. Skarta wants to participate in the construction of hydrogen economy and enable the realization of projects. Especially the construction of production and storage facilities as well as a transmission network together with the customers and partners of the company is a significant potential market area that can be naturally combined with solar and wind power projects that belong to Skarta’s current business activities.
Green hydrogen briefly
At the moment, 95% of the produced hydrogen is estimated to be made with fossil fuels. The production of green hydrogen that is made with renewable energy is limited because of its higher expensive. The profitability of production is improved with the development of technology and the emissions trading mechanism that encourages to change processes in industry and transportation that generate carbon dioxide emissions to be hydrogen-based.
Primary applications for green hydrogen are transportation, industry, and heating. As the society is becoming more and more electronic, hydrogen can also be a significant energy storage and balancing solution, the importance of which increases especially when the production of wind and solar power grows. Green hydrogen can also be utilized in power-to-x technologies, in which green hydrogen is used to produce synthetic fuels and ammonia.
The extensive adoption of green hydrogen is required to reach the carbon neutrality targets as well. The position of the hydrogen economy as a part of the future energy shift and slowing the climate change down has been widely recognized, and both EU and individual member state support its development with dozens of billions of euros e.g. through the recovery fund. All major global economic powers have their own ambitious hydrogen strategies, so the demand for hydrogen economy solutions is at a significant growth.
