Our story

UNESCO World heritage fjord of Geirangerfjord. Photo: Per Eide

The beginning

Norwegian Hydrogen AS was founded in early 2020 by Knut Flakk and a group of industrial investors, including Flakk Gruppen, Hexagon Purus, Hofseth International and Tafjord Kraftproduksjon, who envision a future with zero emissions.

The idea behind the company was sparked in 2018, when the Norwegian Government introduced new requirements, to be administered from 2026, for emission-free entry into the UNESCO world heritage fjords of Norway. This fostered our idea of a hydrogen factory in Hellesylt that will provide local, green hydrogen to vessels sailing into the fjords.

Our first project

In 2019, the Hellesylt Hydrogen Hub project, led by Flakk Gruppen, was awarded NOK 46 million in Pilot-E funding from Innovation Norway and the Norwegian Research Council. From 2024, Hellesylt Hydrogen Hub will use surplus power from local hydropower plants to produce green hydrogen.

Explore Hellesylt Hydrogen Hub

The next phase

In 2021, Norwegian Hydrogen gained its first full-time employee when Jens Berge was hired as CEO. In August 2021, the company bought a plot of land in Hellesylt and the project took a big step towards realization. During the autumn, activity escalated considerably and the company gained three more employees.

The first four employees of Norwegian Hydrogen, together with the consultants temporarily hired in the first phase of the company. From left: Jan Aril Roppen (consultant), Jens Berge, Marielle Furnes Mannseth, Per Øyvind Voie, Ingunn Iveland (consultant), and Kåre Nerem.

Going North

In January 2022, Norwegian Hydrogen entered as new majority owner of Narvik-based company H2-Arctic and changed its name to Narvik Hydrogen, at the same time increasing the ambition level for the region around Narvik in Norway and Sweden. Later in spring 2022, Arctic Hydrogen AS was established as a subsidiary, with an office in Berlevåg, Finnmark.

Scaling up

Throughout 2022, our organization grew bigger, with six additional team members joining us. These new additions enabled Norwegian Hydrogen to further increase activity level throughout the Nordic region.

Team Norwegian Hydrogen in 2022

Mitsui & Co., Ltd enters as the second largest owner

In August 2022, Mitsui & Co., Ltd. invested in the company, becoming the second largest owner. Mitsui's large network opened many doors globally for Norwegian Hydrogen.

Permanent presence in the Nordics

With several exciting projects in both Sweden and Denmark, Norwegian Hydrogen has established a permanent presence through the subsidiaries NH2 Danmark A/S and NH2 Sverige AB.

In February 2023, Norwegian Hydrogen acquired HydRe Oy, a Helsinki-based company focusing on building a network of hydrogen refueling stations aimed at heavy trucks in Finland and the Baltics.

Still growing

The momentum in our company keeps being high and during the first months in 2023 we hired 12 new talented colleagues in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland.

23.03.23 we launched the news about our daughter company, Vireon. Vireon is the leading hydrogen refueler in the Nordics for heavy-duty truck and will construct and operate refueling stations throughout the region.

New global investor

In the fall of 2023, Fortescue, a global green energy, metals and technology company, invested close to NOK 100 million (AU $13.5 million) to become a shareholder in Norwegian Hydrogen. The investment makes Fortescue acquire a 12.5 percent ownership interest in Norwegian Hydrogen, becoming the third largest shareholder.

Fortescue is leading the green industrial revolution and have ambitious goals for decarbonize their iron ore operation. This aligns well with Norwegian Hydrogens mission and our collaboration will be fruitful in the coming years.

We look forward to a future with zero emissions.