Hydrogen – Driver of the Estonian (green) future

on April 14, 2021 at 10:00-12:40 (EEST) in Zoom

Many countries and organisations are in the middle of defining their hydrogen policies, roadmaps and strategies. Expectations are high that this old but newly re-discovered renewable energy carrier will play an important role in reaching the climate targets and it seems to be inevitable that hydrogen will shape our future energy sector. The question is: who will be the first to mobilise their forces and what happens to those who will not come along?

The organisers are happy to invite you to listen to some of the first examples from Estonia in developing hydrogen strategies and learn from the Netherlands experience in building the hydrogen economy.

From Estonia, Port of Tallinn and City of Keila have completed their new hydrogen strategies and Ida-Virumaa
 Hydrogen Cluster has come up with a clear vision on how to move ahead.

From the Netherlands Mr Petrus Postma (&Flux B.V.), an expert on sustainability and energy transition who has together with his team developed Port of Tallinn´s hydrogen strategy and has consulted City of Keila, will share his thoughts on the global trends and elaborate on his findings about the Estonian opportunities.

Minister Andres Sutt together with Mr Guldar Kivro (TS Laevad), Mr Marek Alliksoo (SKYCORP OÜ), Mr Petrus Postma (&Flux B.V.) and Mr Marti Hääl (Alexela Group), has promised to join the panel discussion. The Netherlands, a leading developer of the hydrogen economy in Europe, will also be showcasing three additional real-world examples and sharing their experience. Please see the detailed agenda below.

The webinar will be moderated by Ms Annely Akkermann, Chairman of the Parliament´s Hydrogen Technologies Support Group.

The webinar will be held in English without translation to Estonian.

This webinar is organised together by The Netherlands Embassy in Estonia, Port of Tallinn, City of Keila and Estonian Hydrogen Cluster.

Webinar technical support is provided by Tartu BT Park.

Webinar recordings

 

 

 

Webinar slides

Agenda

10:00-10:05     Welcome by the Moderator:  Ms Annely Akkermann, Member of Parliament
10:05-10:10     Welcome by the Netherlands ambassador to Estonia, Ms Özlem Canel
10:10-10:30     Keynote by Mr Petrus Postma, consultant on sustaibablity and green transition, founder of &Flux B.V.  

Estonian Country Case Presentations
10:30-10:45     Mr Raimo Pirksaar (Port of Tallinn) – “Port of Tallinn – converting ambitions into action”
10:45-11:00     Mr Jüri Alasi (Nomine Consult), Introduction to Keila vision 
11:00-11:15     Mr Mihkel Laan, Ida-VIrumaa Hydrogen Cluster Vision

Netherlands Country Case Presentations
11:15-11:30     Mr Jörg Gigler, Director TKI Nieuw Gas, Topsector Energy will give an insight into the development of hydrogen in the Netherlands.
11:30-11:45    Mr Maurice Delattre, Area Manager, Port of Amsterdam, will introduce Port of Amsterdam´s steps in developing hydrogen based solutions
11:45-12:00    Ms Gerdien Priester, Senior Policy Officer, Province Zuid-Holland will elaborate Zuid-Holland´s agenda in supporting hydrogen developments

12:00-12:35   Panel discussion:
                        Mr Andres Sutt, Minister of Entrepreneurship and IT 
                        Mr Petrus Postma, partner in &Flux B.V. 
                        Mr Guldar Kivro, TS Laevad Management Board 
                        Mr Marek Alliksoo, Estonian Hydrogen Association/Skycorp OÜ
                        Mr Marti Hääl, executive VP in Alexela Group OÜ
                        Moderator: Ms Annely Akkermann, Member of Parliament

12:35-12:40   Summary by the Moderator

 

Speakers

Ms Annely Akkermann, Member of  Parliament

Before entering into professional politics, for 14 years Annely Akkermann was active a businesswoman in tourism and maritime sector. In the Parliament Annely Akkerman has been involved in economy related matters, especially matters in tourism, maritime and renewable energy sectors.

 

Ms Özlem Canel

Özlem Canel entered the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1998 and worked in junior positions at the UN Department, the Consular Department and the Asia and Pacific Department. Her postings abroad were in Brussels (2004-2008) and Sarajevo (2008-2009). She was spokesperson for then Minister for European Affairs (Frans Timmermans) and Deputy Ambassador in Baku/Azerbaijan (2013-2015) and Helsinki/Finland (2015-2020). Since August 2020 she is Ambassador to Estonia. Mrs. Canel holds a Master degree in Law from the University of Amsterdam.

Mr Petrus Postma

Petrus Postma is one of the two founders of &Flux. Building new value chains – that is what drives us. We operate from a deep understanding of the complexity of transitions and know how to bring market, government, innovations, business cases, technology and policy together. In each of our focus fields (energy transition, raw-material transition, climate adaptation, circular), we have developed and initiated programs with a multitude of partners from business, government and society. Examples include the boosting of sustainable heat projects in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area, CO2 as a feedstock for future proof industry and developing international hydrogen value chains.

Regions with abundant and excess solar and wind potential have a huge opportunity to export green hydrogen to North West Europe. That is why we initiated a project that researches the possibility of building a value chain to import green hydrogen on an industrial scale from North Africa to North West Europe. Our role in this project is being the initiator, coalition builder and project manager. Another example of a project is establishing the hydrogen strategy for the Port of Tallinn. Through our research and cooperation with business and government partners we have started to build on a new economic proposition with Port of Tallinn as the central node in the hydrogen ecosystem. The strategy has been embraced by the board of the Port of Tallinn and we now aim to establish international partnerships and kickstart the hydrogen economy within the port and Estonia as a whole.

Mr Raimo Pirksaar

Raimo Pirksaar is responsible for developing and implementing energy policy at Port of Tallinn. He is involved in innovative energy projects that ensure the sustainable development of the company. Raimo has graduated from Tallinn University of Technology with master’s degree in Electrical Engineering.

 

 Mr Jüri Alasi (Nomine Consult)

Jüri Alasi, MSc in electrical engineering from Tallinn Technical University. Partner at Nomine Consult – energy and environmental advisory, owner’s engineering services and GHG verification. 30+ years of professional experience from Estonian and Finnish energy sector.

 

Mr Mihkel Laan

Mihkel Laan is a local and regional development consultant with 17 years of experience in strategic planning, project development, funding and implementation.
Mihkel is a board member in Cumulus Consulting Ltd, he holds MSc in Human Geography from University of Joensuu, Finland.
Since 2004 Mihkel has been involved in several large scale investment projects in Ida-Virumaa as a consultant or a project manager, he is a member of Estonian Hydrogen Cluster

Dr Jörg Gigler

Jörg Gigler (1967) has been working on sustainability and innovation for more than 25 years, the last 15 years focusing on the role of gases and the gas industry in the energy transition. Since 2013 he is director of the Dutch New Gas Innovation Team (TKI New Gas), a public private partnership that is part of the Topsector Energy, where he is responsible for innovation on topics such as hydrogen, biomethane, geo energy and carbon capture, utilization and storage. Jörg has held different positions in consultancy, the gas industry and at governments. He is a regular speaker at courses and conferences about sustainability, innovation and energy transition. He holds different positions as board member in organisations focusing on energy and innovation. He studied Agricultural Engineering at Wageningen University (NL) where he obtained a PhD in Agricultural Sciences. 

Mr Maurice Delattre

Area Manager at Port of Amsterdam International and Representative of the Port of Amsterdam in Germany, Scandinavia and the Baltic region. Maurice has a background in maritime logistics, business development and project management. MSc Supply Chain Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam.

 

Ms Gerdien Priester

Gerdien Priester works as a Senior Energy Advisor for the Province of South-Holland. Energy infrastructure, system integration and  hydrogen are priorities of the Province’s policy for energy transition. Gerdien has as project manager recently delivered the System Study Energy infrastructure South-Holland 2020-2030-2050  where hydrogen takes an important role. In addition, she is involved in developing the Hydrogen proposition which is made by the province of South-Holland and several partners.

Mr Andres Sutt

Mr Andres Sutt is the minister of entrepreneurship and information technology since 26 January 2021. He was elected to Riigikogu on March 3, 2019 as a member of the liberal Reform Party.
Prior to assuming public office Mr Sutt has over 25 years of international experience in central banking, bank restructuring and crisis management. Andres was Deputy Governor of the Bank of Estonia, has worked for the European Stability Mechanism, for the European Financial Stability Facility and represented Estonia at the Executive Board of the IMF. He was also a Member of Management Board of Enefit, the largest energy utility in Estonia.
Mr Sutt serves as the board member of SOS Children Village Estonia, Estonian Maternity Hospitals Foundation, University of Tartu Foundation.
He has master’s degree in economics and finance (cum laude) from Tartu University, Estonia and has studied management in INSEAD, France.

Mr Guldar Kivro

Guldar Kivro holds the position of head of shipping / member of the management board of the Estonian ferry operating company TS Laevad. As head of shipping one of his main tasks currently is to find opportunities for using hydrogen technology on ferries. He has diverse maritime experience working as a chief mate and captain on different vessels for several years.
Guldar Kivro graduated from the Estonian Maritime Academy in 2005 and since 2019 holds a master’s degree in business from the Estonian Business School.

Mr Marek Alliksoo

Marek Alliksoo, CEO of SKYCORP, is a leading industry expert in Hydrogen Technologies, Unmanned Aerial Systems, the combination of the two and an ecosystem developer of future vertical airspace.

Marek is a board member of the Estonian Association of Hydrogen Technologies, on the European Clean Hydrogen Alliance’s Mobility working group and the International Hydrogen Aviation Association.

Mr Marti Hääl

Marti Hääl is the member of management board in Alexela Group since 2012. From his previous career can be pointed out being practising attorney-at-law, co-founder and managing partner of law firm Luiga, Mody, Hääl & Borenius (now named Cobalt). He has experience and high expertise in the legal, commercial and governmental sectors. Marti is leading most of the hydrogen related projects in Alexela Group.