Gasgrid Finland welcomes General Counsel Saija Kivinen and Professor Jero Ahola as new members of Board of Directors.
Gasgrid Finland’s owner has appointed two new members to the company’s Board of Directors to strengthen the company’s strategic insight. General Counsel, Master of Laws (LL.M.) Saija Kivinen has long experience in legal matters in industry and technology, currently responsible for Telia Finland’s legal affairs in the company’s Management Team. Professor of Electrical Systems and Energy Efficiency at the LUT University, Jero Ahola, is a top Finnish expert in energy systems as well as hydrogen production and energy storage, among others.
“Gasgrid Finland has a significant role as a promoter of Finland’s open and increasingly dynamic gas market. It is great to be involved in implementing the company’s new strategy in a situation in which the regulated operating environment is undergoing a change and the markets have just opened for competition,” says Saija Kivinen.
“This is a unique opportunity and a vantage point to getting to have an impact on the development of the Finnish energy system. The energy revolution currently underway is at the same time both a threat and a unique opportunity for Finland and for Finnish industry,” says Jero Ahola.
Gasgrid Finland has now operated as transmission system operator in Finland’s open gas market since the start of the year. In October, the company published its new strategy, which is based on scenario development that extensively engaged stakeholders, among other things. The company’s vision for 2035 is as follows: “Gases enable a carbon-neutral society – we provide a platform for it.”
The energy sector and other industries are working on a wide front and preparing plans that take us toward a carbon-neutral Finland. At the same time, the European Commission, among others, has published its own strategies concerning energy system integration and hydrogen.
“In Finland and in Europe, there is now a strong will to take the transition to climate neutrality to the finishing line. I am excited that we are getting top expertise in both infrastructure industry regulation and energy technology development for our Board of Directors to spur us and guide us toward our goal,” says CEO of Gasgrid Finland, Olli Sipilä, happily.
Kai-Petteri Purhonen will continue in Gasgrid Finland’s Board of Directors as Chair and Päivi Nerg and Asta Sihvonen-Punkka as members of the Board. The company’s government ownership steering is in the Ministry of Finance.
Further information:
Olli Sipilä, CEO, Gasgrid Finland Oy, tel. +358 40 589 4686, olli.sipila@gasgrid.fi.
Gasgrid Finland Oy is a Finnish state-owned company and transmission system operator with system responsibility. We offer our customers safe, reliable and cost-efficient transmission of gases. We actively develop our transmission platform, services and the gas market in a customer-oriented manner to promote the carbon-neutral energy system of the future. Read more: www.gasgrid.fi/
