Successful Contract Signing: Another Offshore Converter Platform to be Built in Rostock
50Hertz and NEPTUN SMULDERS Offshore Renewables (NSORe) have successfully concluded negotiations for the construction of an offshore converter station for the LanWin3 offshore grid connection project in the North Sea. With the signing of the contract, the way is now clear for the second major project whose key components are to be manufactured within NSORe’s production set-up, including NEPTUN shipyard in Rostock-Warnemünde and Smulders’ yard in Vlissingen. In June, 50Hertz had already awarded a billion-euro contract for the LanWin6 offshore grid connection system to the consortium NSORe and Siemens Energy. As with LanWin6, Siemens Energy will be responsible for supplying the high-voltage components for the LanWin3 project.
The volume for the contracts attributable to NSORe for the two offshore converter platforms amounts to approximately EUR 2.5 billion, the majority of which will be spent on production and services in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
Stefan Kapferer, CEO of 50Hertz: “With our LanWin3 and LanWin6 projects, we are creating the conditions needed to securely integrate large volumes of offshore wind energy from the North Sea into the German power grid. As the client for 2 GW converter platforms, we require strong partners and robust industrial structures, both of which are available in Rostock-Warnemünde. With this second contract, we are further strengthening the entire value chain in the region and helping to advance the energy transition at sea. From a political perspective, the next step must be to further refine the Offshore Wind Energy Act to provide planning certainty and prevent delays in the construction of offshore wind farms.”
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Originally published on 19 Sep
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The Latvian airline airBaltic announces the start of the summer season 2026, running until late October 2026, by introducing nine new routes, relaunching several previously operated services, and increasing frequencies on nearly 30 existing routes from its bases across all three Baltic States and Finland.
Since 29 and 30 March, airBaltic has launched new connections between Riga (Latvia) and Kaunas (Lithuania), Oulu (Finland), and Warsaw (Poland), as well as relaunched services between Riga and Belgrade (Serbia). Additionally, newly launched destinations from Tallinn (Estonia) include Hamburg (Germany) and Vienna (Austria), alongside the relaunch of flights to Oslo (Norway).
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Originally published on 30 Mar
The smallest companies in the Baltics will be eligible for up to €15 million in loans as a result of an initiative that alternative financing provider Capitalia is undertaking with support from the European Investment Fund (EIF). Capitalia will use an EIF guarantee to offer crowdfunded loans to microenterprises in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania over three years.
Microenterprises, which have fewer than ten employees and annual turnover or total assets below €2 million, often struggle to secure funding from traditional lenders because of limited collateral or credit history.
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Originally published on 30 Mar
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is lending the City of Stockholm 5 billion Swedish kronor (around €470 million euro) to finance the city’s largest environmental investment in decades. The project involves closing the Bromma treatment plant and routing all the city’s wastewater to a significantly expanded and modernised treatment plant at Henriksdal.
The key element of the investment is a new wastewater collection tunnel that will transport sewage from Bromma to Henriksdal. The plant there will be expanded using advanced membrane technology, making it possible to treat more water without increasing the floor area and with significantly better results.
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Originally published on 26 Mar
The defence sector pre-accelerator Defence Business Lab is beginning its second year of operation and is inviting companies and teams to apply with technological solutions that support Estonia’s defence capabilities. The programme helps take defence technologies from idea and prototype stage through to testing and international growth opportunities.
The pre-accelerator is aimed at companies developing technologies applicable in the defence sector that need support in understanding the specific characteristics of the defence market, developing and positioning their solution, and preparing for the next stages of growth, including applying to international programmes.
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Originally published on 27 Mar
From March 17 to 19, a Consortium meeting of the European Union co-funded project H2Deri@BSP took place in Luleå, Sweden. The Freeport of Ventspils Authority was represented by Kaspars Liepiņš, developer of the renewable energy cluster.
During the meeting, project partners familiarised themselves with the Port of Luleå, one of the largest cargo ports in Sweden and an important industrial centre in the northern part of the Gulf of Bothnia. They discussed project activities and latest updates and presented interim results of their work tasks. The Freeport of Ventspils Authority presented a techno-economic and commercial model designed to assess the development potential of solar, wind, and hybrid power plants, as well as green hydrogen and its derivative production facilities.
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Originally published on 26 Mar
In a significant move to bolster European energy independence, Hydrogen Cluster Finland and Poland’s key Hydrogen Cluster Lower Silesian Hydrogen Valley Association (LSHVA) today signed a Memorandum of Understanding to accelerate the creation of an integrated hydrogen market in the Baltic Sea region. The Memorandum of Understanding was signed at the leading Polish hydrogen conference, H2 Poland, taking place in Poznań.
The parties agree to cooperate in advancing a sustainable and safe green and low carbon hydrogen economy through knowledge exchange, ecosystem building, and mutual promotion of innovation and industry development. In addition to its regional role in one of the key hydrogen hubs of Poland, LSHVA will serve as national coordination platform for Finnish-Polish hydrogen interests.
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Originally published on 25 Mar
Estonian company PowerUP Energy Technologies, a leading European developer of hydrogen fuel cell solutions, announced its expansion in Scandinavia through a strategic distribution agreement with Greener InfoTech Systems Sweden AB.
Under this agreement, Greener InfoTech Systems AB (GITSAB) will serve as the authorised distributor for PowerUP’s hydrogen-based energy generation products across Sweden, Denmark, and Norway. This partnership is designed to meet the surging demand for portable, zero-emission power in a region that leads the world in the transition toward a hydrogen economy.
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Originally published on 25 Mar
The Estonian Association of Information Technology and Telecommunications (ITL) recognised the most outstanding technological achievements and contributors of 2025 at its anniversary event. The Deed of the Year 2025 award was presented to the AI Leap Foundation for launching an education programme that helps Estonian schools adapt to the age of AI.
ITL annually recognises individuals and organisations whose ideas, initiatives or activities have significantly impacted the development of digital technology in Estonia or society more broadly. Awards were presented in four categories: Doer of the Year, Deed of the Year, Breakthrough of the Year and Role Model of the Year.
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Originally published on 24 Mar
The problems affecting the Finnish economy are deep and structural. Sitra proposes a solution in the form of a growth agreement that transcends government terms and party lines.
“Finland has all the necessary prerequisites to overcome its current underperformance. We have world-class technological expertise, strong societal trust that supports growth, and well-functioning institutions. From this starting point, we must aim higher,” says Sitra’s President Atte Jääskeläinen.
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Originally published on 25 Mar
As the volume of court rulings and legal information continues to grow rapidly, not only legal professionals but also public institutions and businesses increasingly require smart solutions to efficiently process large amounts of data and make decisions based not only on statutory law, but also on case law and legal precedents.
To address this need, Latvian law firm iLaw, in collaboration with technology partners, has developed an AI-enabled intelligent database ECLI.ai, significantly improving access to court decisions and legal information analysis. It is anticipated that fast and systematic analysis of rulings will help reduce the risk of contradictory judgments and inconsistencies in legal interpretation, support the development of more coherent case law, and strengthen trust in the judicial system and public administration overall.
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Originally published on 25 Mar