Hydrogen economy plays a central role in Novia’s education and research
Vaasa is home to the largest energy technology cluster in the Nordic countries. As a multidisciplinary university of applied sciences (UAS) that has over 175 years of experience in technical and engineering education in Ostrobothnia, Novia plays an important role in supplying experts for this cluster.
“Novia is strongly anchored in the regional innovation ecosystem. We are now focusing even more on energy technology in both education and research amid the clean energy transition”, says CEO and President Örjan Andersson.
“We always strive to predict the future needs of our region to provide the degree programmes and conduct research that best benefit the local working life. In the coming years, expertise within the hydrogen economy will be especially in demand”, adds Research Manager John Dahlbacka.
Novia is presently participating in 15 green transition and hydrogen economy research projects. One of them is Hydrogen Master, a joint project between Novia, Tampere UAS, and Lapland UAS.
“The project aims to enhance regional companies’ skills in hydrogen production, storage, and use”, states Sören Mattbäck, Project Leader at Novia.
In recent years, the number of wind farms on Finland’s west coast has been rising rapidly. This has created a need for more energy transmission capacity. One proposed transmission solution is a hydrogen pipeline initiated by Gasgrid Finland.
“This pipeline would preferably go through Vaasa as well, creating possibilities for the companies in our region. The Hydrogen Master project gives them essential know-how of hydrogen plants’ operations”, Mattbäck says.
In another project, MAP-UP-P2X, Novia explores the possibilities for the regional use of carbon dioxide, oxygen, and hydrogen together with Åbo Akademi University and Vaasa UAS.
“We examine raw material flows in various industries and map out the technologies for the separation of CO₂ and production of hydrogen gas. Together, these technologies can be used to make synthetic, climate-friendly fuels”, Mattbäck explains.
Novia also works with international universities. Within the WHISPER project, Novia and the Chilean University of Magallanes launched a joint course in wind power and green hydrogen.
“Cooperation with other universities is a cornerstone of our research – by exchanging and pooling expertise, we can create even better local competence in new energy technologies”, Andersson emphasises.
