Stargate Hydrogen Teams Up with Fortum and OX2 for Its Nordic Hydrogen Push

• Stargate Hydrogen expands in Nordics through deployments with Fortum and a major OX2 partnership
• 1 MW electrolyser installation at Fortum’s Kalla Test Center validates technology and logistics
• The Åland project with OX2 launches a commercial industrial-scale platform and large hydrogen production
• These collaborations drive Nordic hydrogen innovation, scaling, and decarbonisation across heavy industry and transport

This October marked major advancements in the Nordic expansion of Stargate Hydrogen, the well-known Estonian innovator in next-generation alkaline electrolysers for cost-effective green hydrogen. Following the company’s 2024 agreement with Fortum—the Nordic clean energy company, Stargate Hydrogen deployed its 1MW alkaline electrolyser at Fortum’s Kalla Test Center in Loviisa, Finland. Further, the Estonian company entered into an agreement with OX2, a European developer of renewable energy solutions, to accelerate the commercial deployment of large-scale renewable hydrogen production in the Nordic region, beginning with Åland.

Nordic Momentum

According to Stargate Hydrogen’s senior business development manager Aniket Choudhari, his company’s partnerships are part of a broader mission of helping industries decarbonize while keeping their competitiveness.

‘Our collaboration with Fortum and OX2 fits naturally into our expansion towards the Nordics, with Finland as the starting point. We see the region as uniquely positioned to lead the hydrogen transition thanks to its abundant and affordable renewable energy and a regulatory environment that is straightforward and supportive. These two factors already give the Nordics an advantage compared to much of CEE,’ Mr Choudhari states.

The synergies are strong with Fortum and OX2 specifically in view of the ongoing development of larger electrolyser stacks, the recently presented Starbase and Aurora systems, ensuring readiness for future capacity expansion.

Fortum’s Stepwise Hydrogen Strategy

Founded in 1998, Fortum Corporation operates across power generation, distribution, and energy services, with a strong focus on decarbonisation and renewable technologies. The company is actively involved in advancing green hydrogen, electrification, and other innovative solutions to support the transition to a low-carbon energy system.

Fortum sees renewable hydrogen as a key enabler for decarbonising sectors where direct electrification is challenging, such as heavy industry and transport.

‘While the market is still developing, we are currently in the hydrogen exploration phase within our strategy. Our hydrogen exploration approach is stepwise: start with pilot projects like the Kalla Test Center to validate technology and business models, then scale up as the market and regulatory frameworks mature,’ Fortum’s VP Hydrogen, P2X, and Project Execution Satu Sipola shares.

Inside the Kalla Deployment: Logistics, Precision, and Execution

In its Kalla Test Center, the company is now testing Stargate Hydrogen’s alkaline and Norwegian Hystar PEM (proton exchange membrane) electrolysers, both electrolysers around 1 MW.

Stargate Hydrogen’s head of system architecture Arko Akenpärg tells ITKeyMedia that the biggest challenge in deploying the electrolyser at the Kalla Test Center was logistics. The system transportation involved four full truckloads of cargo that had to be coordinated precisely on site to make the most of the crane booking hours and to ensure everything was ready in time for boarding the ship from Estonia to Finland.

‘The final week before shipment was especially intense. Everything had to run like clockwork to meet the deadline. With equipment of this size and weight, there is absolutely no room for error, even a small mishap could have serious consequences. It required strong focus, quick decision-making, and constant communication between several teams. Every detail mattered,’ Mr Akenpärg recalls. 

The team worked long hours on the shipment day, but the coordination paid off. Once in Finland, Stargate Hydrogen’s supervision team guided the installation works to go smoothly.

A Pilot for Bigger Things to Come

For Stargate Hydrogen, the collaboration with Fortum at the Kalla project is a major step in confirming the reliability and performance of our electrolyser technology. The 1 MW system installed there is the same model that the company deployed earlier at the Utilitas plant in Tallinn, with a few adjustments to meet Fortum’s project needs. This means the entire process was finetuned from manufacturing to commissioning and long-term operation.

Compared to the deployment at the Utilitas site in Tallinn, it was possible to shorten the time to market significantly, which proves that the systems are ready for wider commercial rollouts and can be efficiently adapted to different project requirements.

With the Kalla Test Center project, Fortum’s intention is to accumulate valuable experience on project execution and further on operations and maintenance. Afterward, the partners can move on to working on larger projects.

To evaluate the success of the Kalla project deployment, Stargate Hydrogen looked at a combination of technical, operational, and project delivery factors. On the project side, delivering the system on time and ensuring full compliance with Fortum’s high engineering standards were key indicators.

‘Working with a company of Fortum’s caliber naturally raises the bar, so maintaining that level of quality across all stages, from design to installation, is fundamental. A smooth handover of operations to Fortum is also an important milestone, as it demonstrates not only the reliability of our technology but also the maturity of our delivery and support processes,’ Stargate Hydrogen’s Head of Systems Development Rubén Canalejas Pérez remarks. 

From a technical standpoint, the Stargate Hydrogen team is closely monitoring global efficiency and hydrogen output to make sure that real-world performance aligns with Fortum’s specifications. These data points help finetune Stargate Hydrogen’s systems and ensure that each future deployment builds on the lessons learned from the Kalla project. After this pilot, Fortum and Stargate Hydrogen can focus on commercial projects and scaling to multi-MW systems.

‘When electrolyser performance and scalability is considered we focus on energy efficiency, operational reliability, cost benchmarks, and modularity,’ Ms Sipola adds.

Scaling Hydrogen for the Nordic Economy with OX2

With renewable energy developer OX2, meanwhile, Stargate Hydrogen also teamed up to advance the large-scale rollout of renewable hydrogen production across the Nordic region. This agreement represents the commercial debut of Stargate Hydrogen’s industrial electrolyser platform and strengthens the company’s position in the region’s rapidly growing hydrogen landscape.

With a shared ambition to decarbonise heavy industry and accelerate the development of a competitive hydrogen economy, the partners’ first step will be the deployment of a major hydrogen production facility in Åland, powered by Stargate Hydrogen’s new Aurora electrolyser module. The project’s goal is to demonstrate the scalability and economic viability of the technology while supporting Åland’s emergence as a strategic centre for Nordic hydrogen.

‘We see renewable hydrogen as a key enabler of the energy transition. Partnering with Stargate Hydrogen allows us to connect world-class electrolyser technology with our large-scale renewable energy portfolio. Together, we can accelerate the development of a sustainable hydrogen ecosystem in the Nordics and beyond,’ OX2’s Regional Manager Åland Anders Wiklund comments.

Alongside this deployment, Stargate Hydrogen and OX2 will collaborate within ABB’s H2 Springboard programme, Finland’s national hydrogen innovation effort backed by significant R&D investment. Through this initiative, the companies will contribute expertise and infrastructure to co-develop modular hydrogen solutions, accelerate technology validation, engage key partners, and leverage public funding to speed commercial readiness and enhance global competitiveness.

Hydrogen Innovation Pipeline

‘Our growth since the company’s foundation in 2021 remains steady and based on clear, long-term goals. R&D remains at the heart of what we do as we’ve joined three new EU-level R&D projects—GuessWHy, Sea4Volt, and DELYCIOUS—this year, each focused on a different technical aspect of alkaline electrolysis technology. These projects allow us to keep innovating, even while we also put more and more focus on customer deliveries. There’s a good chance another project will be announced before the end of the year,’ Stargate Hydrogen’s CTO Rainer Küngas tells ITKeyMedia.

‘We are not developing technology for its own sake. We are developing the right tools for heavy industries that are serious about decarbonisation. In countries like Finland, where hydrogen strategies are ambitious and forward-looking, we see our systems naturally fitting into the national and regional hydrogen infrastructure. The integration of our products will come as a result of our focus on helping our partners turn renewable energy into practical, competitive solutions for industry,’ Stargate Hydrogen’s CEO Marko Virkebau concludes.

These two partnerships mark an important inflection point in Stargate Hydrogen’s expansion, strengthening its technological credibility and anchoring its presence in a strategic region for green hydrogen. By collaborating with established leaders like Fortum and OX2, the company is validating its technology alongside accelerating the industrial-scale adoption of renewable hydrogen. Together, these alliances demonstrate how coordinated efforts across the Nordic energy ecosystem can significantly advance decarbonisation and shape a more sustainable industrial future.