Research and innovation

Gasgrid’s research, development and innovation (RDI) charts the Group’s strategic course and seeks solutions for the future needs of society, the hydrogen economy and an energy system supported by clean gases. The purpose of our operations is to accelerate the green transition, enable the commissioning of new technologies and business models as part of a multi-gas platform, and to reinforce Finland’s position in Europe’s hydrogen economy. We are focused not only on current challenges, but also on the future in order to understand where the energy system, hydrogen economy and society’s needs are headed – and what we can do to support this development.

The multi-gas platform is at the core of our operations, enabling sustainable, safe, reliable and cost-effective gas transmission. Currently the multi-gas platform consists of natural gas and biogas, but in the future it will also include e-methane and hydrogen. In addition, we study the development paths and transmission needs of carbon dioxide value chains.

Multidisciplinary R&D co-operation spawns new solutions

At the core of our research and development work is extensive co-operation with universities, research institutions and other companies. The green transition and building of a hydrogen economy are multidimensional issues, and we find ourselves in uncharted territory. The need for research and development is greater than ever, and we see the seamless co-operation between different stakeholders as an important foundation for generating new solutions.

We co-operate at both the national and global level, for example, by participating in co-financed R&D projects, by operating in the projects’ steering groups and by supporting the projects’ preparation and execution. We also take part in standardisation work related to hydrogen transmission.

We are happy to discuss co-operation opportunities, and we distribute information on the development of markets for clean gases and on the hydrogen transmission infrastructure.

The BalticSeaH2 project is Europe’s first major cross-border hydrogen valley project, which is building hydrogen economy ecosystems between Finland and Estonia and even further afield across the Baltic Sea region. The project brings together 40 partners from nine countries and promotes the production, transmission and use of clean hydrogen in industry, transport and energy production. The goal is to cut industry emissions while improving Europe’s energy self-sufficiency and resilience. The project is being built on concrete investments and multidisciplinary research.

The project is financed by Clean Hydrogen Partnership. Gasgrid is the project’s coordinator together with CLIC Innovation, promoting both local and cross-border co-operation in order to enable investments demanded by the hydrogen economy and to ensure the sustainable transition. Through the project, Gasgrid, for example, promotes the development of the required transmission infrastructure and creation of an effective market model for hydrogen.

Added value through green technology – gH2ADDVA

The project seeks solutions that promote the production of green energy and development of hydrogen technology. The project seeks environmentally friendly and alternative forms of energy production and new material technology solutions to promote Finland’s energy self-sufficiency, as well as AI-based tools to generate value chain models.

Materials research for hydrogen transmission in the Nordics – MatHias

The goal of the MatHias (Material and Structural Integrity Assessment for Safe Nordic Hydrogen Transportation Infrastructure) project is to develop a safe hydrogen transmission infrastructure in the Nordic countries, focusing especially on research into the durability of steel hydrogen pipelines and structures.

Hydrogen storage research project HUG – Hydrogen UnderGround

The HUG – Hydrogen UnderGround project creates a foundation for a large-scale underground storage concept, supporting Finland’s hydrogen business and technology development. Hydrogen storage is viewed as a key component of the hydrogen economy value chain as it allows the production and consumption of weather-dependent hydrogen to be decoupled from each other.

Finland’s sizeable biogenic carbon dioxide reserves enable the further refining of hydrogen into a high added value product, thus producing an important competitive factor for Finland’s hydrogen economy and investments.

Numerous projects aimed at e-methane production also create a connection to the existing methane transmission infrastructure.

The location of carbon dioxide sources and applications in relation to the location of hydrogen production has been identified as a significant factor for the formation of regional ecosystems. Additionally, the permanent storage of biogenic carbon dioxide enables negative emissions. The future development paths for carbon dioxide value chains determine the need for a carbon dioxide transmission infrastructure.

We aim to increase our awareness of the progress of projects utilizing biogenic carbon dioxide and the needs of operators for carbon dioxide transport, as well as the various technological possibilities for transport. At the same time, we will continue to assess the development paths and transport needs of carbon dioxide value chains. We have conducted a joint study with VTT, which examined, among other things, the locations of CO2 centers, export terminals, and intermediate storage facilities, as well as the transport costs and necessary investments in CO2 logistics infrastructure, and we will continue to research this topic.