"The alliance refers to cooperation between Finland and Portugal in the green hydrogen sector, facilitated by Business Finland and aligned with Portugal's National Hydrogen Strategy," Guillermo Solano, senior advisor in Madrid at Business Finland, explained to Lusa.

"The focus is on promoting trade, investment, and technology transfer to support Portugal's decarbonisation goals," explained the head of the Finnish public agency responsible for promoting the internationalisation of Finnish companies and supporting innovation and foreign investment.

Finland's commitments include "promoting Finnish expertise in hydrogen technologies—such as electrolytes, fuel cells, and engineering solutions from companies listed in the Finnish Hydrogen Ecosystem Report—facilitating business missions, and exploring joint financing opportunities in European Union programs such as the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF)," he added.

On the Portuguese side, the focus is on creating attractive market conditions, with targets of up to "2.5 gigawatts (GW) of installed electrolyte capacity by 2030 and 15% renewable hydrogen injection into the natural gas grid by 2030," he noted. These plans are supported by the allocation of €370 million from Portugal's RRF for hydrogen projects. The Finnish agency also notes that the Port of Sines plays an important role in the sector, positioning Portugal as a European hub for the export of green hydrogen, with strong geopolitical and industrial relevance.

When asked about estimates of the specific impact of this cooperation on employment or investment in Portugal, he responded that "Business Finland does not provide estimates," commenting only that "the broader Portuguese strategy for green hydrogen projects has the potential creation of up to 5,000 jobs with investments of around two billion euros in the long term."

Although no formal partnerships have yet been signed, Business Finland detailed that the Finnish hydrogen ecosystem report lists more than 80 Finnish companies and clusters active in the sector. Among the most advanced technological areas of Finnish companies are "solid oxide electrolysis cells from Elcogen, microbial methanation reactors from Q Power Oy, automation systems from Valmet Oyj, and hydrogen engines," he said.

Strategic partners

Regarding Portugal's selection, Guillermo Solano emphasizes that "Finland identified Spain and Portugal as strategic partners due to their potential to generate surplus renewable energy, which complements Finland's strengths in clean and affordable electricity (94% CO₂-free) and advanced hydrogen technologies."

The main challenges of this collaboration include "high capital and operating costs of electrolyzers, uncertainty in financing, lack of regulatory clarity, and insufficient demand. In the Iberian-Finnish context, infrastructure delays, raw material shortages, and recent increases in renewable energy costs are compounded. Furthermore, verifying environmental benefits and adapting to international regulations are delaying development."

Despite this, Finland already has projects that could be replicated in Portugal, such as "P2X Solutions' 20 MW green hydrogen plant, Green North Energy's green ammonia project, Solar Foods' Solein production, and Freija's e-methane plant," he explained.