The board of the Finnish Hydrogen Valley Association, founded in early 2023, has elected Jami Holtar, a graduate engineer, as the association's CEO. Holtari, who has served as the Director of Vitality of the South Karelia Union and has held many positions of work and trust in the region, will start his work on 1 October 2023.
Markku Heinonen, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Finnish Hydrogen Valley Association, considers the election of Holtari an important step in the new association's activities.
- The association was looking for a person with strong experience in business networking and advocacy. I have worked with Jami for a long time and she is the right person for the job because of her skills and experience," says Heinonen.
- Our goal is to build Finland into a major European hub for renewable energy and the production of hydrogen and downstream products based on it. The board of the association is convinced that Holtar's networks and solution-oriented approach will take us in the right direction.
Several large renewable energy investments are underway in eastern and south-eastern Finland, including St1's methanol/methane plant in Lappeenranta, Ren-Gas' green hydrogen plants in Kotka and Mikkeli, P2X's hydrogen and methane plant in Joensuu and Solvay Chemicals' green hydrogen plant in Kouvola.
Major investments in battery materials factories are progressing in Kotka and Hamina. If these plans come to fruition, it will represent a total investment boost of more than EUR 1 billion in eastern Finland.
- In addition, EUR 1-2 billion worth of investments in solar power will be launched in the region during 2024-25, Heinonen says.
- Eastern and south-eastern Finland are opening up tremendous opportunities to harness the vitality of green electrification. We look forward to the government's decisions on how to harness the wind power potential in Eastern Finland, for example, and balance the fluctuations in wind power generation in Western Finland. LUT University is about to complete its own "East Wind" study on this topic.
Jami Holtari steps into new role full of faith in the future
Jami Holtari, who has been the Director of Vitality at the South Karelia Union for more than two years, is excited to take on the job of CEO.
- There is also a really big momentum in the hydrogen economy in Finland, which cannot be ignored. I am excited about the trust I have received and the opportunity to start building a hydrogen valley in Finland," says Holtari.
- I have been an active developer of the province for the last ten years and I know the business, education and government worlds well. I am a lobbyist at heart, who now wants to look beyond the borders of my own province on a subject that has a major impact on the vitality of the whole country.
The aim of the Finnish Hydrogen Valley Association is to build Finland into a major producer of renewable energy and its derivatives on a European scale. The production of hydrogen can make use of industrial bio-based carbon dioxide emissions, which are abundantly available in the Eastern South-Eastern region. One of the Association's tasks is to encourage forestry and other industries to take advantage of this special strength of south-eastern Finland. The association also acts as a lobbyist both regionally and nationally.
The main objectives identified in the region are to promote the solution of the radar problem, which is an obstacle to wind power, and to reinforce and complete the grid, which is necessary for energy and hydrogen investments. Cities and other actors in the region have identified the importance of joint efforts to increase vitality and are ready to contribute their resources and expertise to the promotion of the hydrogen economy. The association currently has 31 members, 18 of whom are businesses.
