Honourable Member,

Many good things have already happened in the year since Finland's Hydrogen Valley was founded, and we thought we'd share some of the milestones with you.

Communication:

• We've got the Teams environment up and running and the pages are being adapted to better serve you and the business group in particular. A calendar of events and links to social media communication will be created on the Sharepoint pages. This will allow members to keep track of upcoming events and be involved more effectively when they want to be.
  • Link to Teams
  • Link to SharePoint

• We will see if we can get more effective tools to improve cooperation. We have been discussing networking tools with various service providers that would be accessible to members of the Finnish Hydrogen Valley Association. You will hear more about these in the spring.

• The new website was launched in early December! Their content is being improved and an English version already exists and will be updated in the coming weeks.

• Newsletters will continue to be the channel we use to inform you about current topics. If you know someone who would like to be included in the distribution, please email office@vetylaakso.fi.

• Our social media channels are also worth monitoring:
  • X (formerly Twitter) 
  • LinkedIn

• We also want to offer you the opportunity to take advantage of our channels! If you have something topical that could benefit from Hydrogen Valley's channels, please send us an email to office@vetylaakso.fi.
• Or by calling Jami: +358 400 551 435
• Or Antillean: +358 40 1478 777

Events:

• Finland's Hydrogen Valley information event in Mikkeli was a success. On Friday 1 December, the association organised an information event in Mikkeli for operators from the regions of South and North Savo and Kainuu. More than 30 representatives from municipalities, development companies, educational institutions, chambers of commerce and provincial associations in the region attended. In addition to investment opportunities related to the hydrogen economy, participants had the opportunity to hear from experts from LUT University about regional hydrogen valley studies and renewable energy opportunities. So we will be welcoming new members in the near future!

• The Finnish Hydrogen Valley Association has been involved in the events to represent and promote awareness of the hydrogen economy. These events included.
  • Eastern Finland Energy Forum in Joensuu
  • South Karelia Industry Meetup in Lappeenranta
  • Eastern Finland Forum in Joensuu
  • Municipalities as drivers of vitality seminar in Helsinki
  • Green Leap - Competitiveness from Sustainability - seminar in Kotka, Finland
  • Southern Finland Towards a Carbon Neutral Finland regional event in Lappeenranta
  • in addition, the Executive Director has been touring the provinces to meet with members and decision-makers.

• We will organise the next event for our own group of companies on Friday morning 26.1.2024 in Kotka. We will be meeting at MM Kotkamills Ltd, and all our members are welcome. There will be a company presentation and factory tour, so we hope that as many people as possible will be able to attend in person. We will of course offer the possibility to follow the event via Teams, but in this case you will miss the factory tour and lunch. We will send you an invitation to the event in the coming days.

Event schedule:

• 9:30 MM Opening remarks by Päivi Suutari, Managing Director of Kotkamills
  • Production Manager Kalle Mäkelä - Board and Paper
  • Production Manager Kimmo Pakkanen - Power Plant and Pulp
  • Suomen Vetylaakso ry - Business group affairs
    • Hydrogen Valley: current events
      • Managing Director Jami Holtari
    • LUT: CO2 capture and downstream processing
      • Professor Tero Tynjälä
    • debate
  • Factory tour
    • Bring your own personal safety equipment if you have it.
    • The factory can provide it if needed
• 12:30 Lunch in the factory canteen

Stakeholders:

• The most important task of the Finnish Hydrogen Valley is to be an advocate for its members. We have been actively seeking new members and have been in contact with various municipalities and companies to further expand our network. We have also worked closely with the LAB University of Applied Sciences and LUT University. The members of our own network have been very active and we are pleased to say that the discussions that have taken place so far have been very good, for example at all the meetings of the business group.

• We are in constant dialogue with leading experts and players in the field. We keep abreast of what is happening in the industry and network increasingly with other stakeholders. We are strongly influencing national policy-making in line with our strategy, but this will not happen alone or quickly.

The past year has been very passive in terms of hydrogen economy and green transition investments across the country. Rising interest rates and inflationary trends, combined with energy and end-product price developments and the outlook for the future, have caused many planned projects, large and small, to take time out. We need determination from our country's political leadership to remedy the situation quickly, at a time when our development is already plagued by recession. If Finland wants to be Europe's leading hydrogen economy airut and producer already in the 2030s, we need creative solutions to boost investment. This vision is already reflected in the transmission companies' plans and it is worth reading the final report of the joint Fingrid/Gasgrid Finland project: https://gasgrid.fi/2023/11/07/sahkon-ja-vedynsiirron-kehitys-luo-perustan-tulevaisuuden-puhtaalle-energiajarjestelmalle-ja-vetytalouden-kasvulle/. These scenarios will not be realised without tackling the challenges of wind power in eastern Finland. This has also been stated by the companies in the report, so our belief in building a hydrogen economy in this direction is strong. But it will still require work from all of us.

A big thank you to all members of the Finnish Hydrogen Valley Association for the past year. Special thanks to the board and the activists of the association, who helped to start and rapidly develop this activity. We are in the right place, at the right time - together we are more!