Sumitomo SHI FW is joining HYGCEL (Hydrogen and Carbon Value Chains in Green Electrification) project with other industrial partners, each with their own parallel R&D projects. The project recently received a positive funding decision from Business Finland, with a total project budget of over €10M for the development of technology related to future electrification and hydrogen economy.

HYGCEL aims to identify Finland’s competitive edge to develop a guide for building new infrastructure that supports Finland’s goal in becoming climate-neutral by 2035. The project will evaluate the role played by key enabling technologies for deep decarbonization of society, support ongoing projects by companies present in the HYGCEL consortium, and develop the value-chain structures needed to accelerate green electrification processes. The consortium members also include universities leading the joint research effort with a set of other industry members, who support the public research either via a steering group committee role or with in-kind contributions.

SFW’s active participation in HYGCEL will lead to valuable technical and market insights and will help accelerate the demonstration of key innovative technologies. SFW’s current commercial solutions, such as Long Duration Energy Storage (LDES), waste-to-value based on gasification, oxy-fuel CCUS and digital services, along with new solutions being developed by SFW with industrial and research partners, will advance future clean energy hubs and clusters driving the green transition.

"The technical concepts and technology solutions generated within HYGCEL will not only support decarbonization actions in Finland but will offer the blueprint for replicating its success in other parts of the world, supporting us in reaching the climate target of limiting global warming below 1.5 °C as soon as possible," said Coda Zabetta, Director of R&D and Patents, SFW.

Green electrification is the concept that the abundant availability of renewable energy will enable decarbonization of the energy sector as well as other sectors. Electricity can be used to produce hydrogen from water which can be utilized or used to synthesize hydrogen with carbon dioxide into products like chemicals, synthetic fuels, methane and even food. Green electrification provides much-needed flexibility to the renewable energy system and will provide Green Hydrogen to replace fossil sources in transport, buildings, steel production, and chemical production.