In Estonia, the construction of hydrogen infrastructure will help achieve climate and energy policy goals and create the prerequisites for establishing clean industries, thereby supporting Estonia’s economic development. 

Hydrogen infrastructure will encourage the establishment of additional renewable energy generation assets, providing electricity market participants with an alternative market to sell their energy when the production of renewable energy is high and water can be converted into hydrogen via electricity. Hydrogen infrastructure combined with underground hydrogen storage facilities create the possibility to store renewable energy long-term for periods in which renewable energy generation is low and there is a short-term necessity for generating electricity from hydrogen. This contributes to the security of supply of the electricity system.

Creating additional cross-border energy infrastructure enhances energy security by enabling it to cover both Estonia’s and Europe’s energy needs with local energy supply, reducing the need for third-country energy imports. Hydrogen and its derivatives enable the decarbonization of hard-to-abate sectors like industry, shipping, and aviation, where full electrification is either technically not feasible or excessively expensive.

For Europe, this project strongly supports the EU’s hydrogen strategy and the REPowerEU plan, reducing the reliance on Russian energy imports. The project helps to achieve EU climate goals, such as the EU’s Green Deal program and the Fit for 55, paving the way to a new sustainable economy.

In April 2024, the NBHC was publicly granted the status of the project of common interest (PCI) by the European Commission as part of the 'Baltic Energy Market Interconnection Plan for Hydrogen' (BEMIP Hydrogen). The PCI status enables benefits such eligibility to apply for EU project funding and accelerated perming granting procedures.   

PCI projects announced on 28th of November 2023