Woikoski – a pioneer of hydrogen in Finland

The debate on the green transition and clean energy solutions continues to be lively, and new businesses have also emerged around the hydrogen economy. However, Woikoski Oy, founded in 1882, has been a pioneer of hydrogen in Finland since 1912.

Green hydrogen was produced at Woikoski as early as 1913

In the early 1900s, Tirva Fabriks Aktiebolag – Tirva Factories Limited Company, today known as Woikoski Oy – manufactured carbon black in Tirva under the leadership of the company’s founder, August Palmberg.

August’s son, Bertil Palmberg, set up a chemical factory in Tirva, producing stearin and tallow for the candle and soap industries. The hydrogen needed to hydrogenate fats was ingeniously produced by water electrolysis – electricity broke down water into hydrogen and oxygen, just as it does today at Woikoski’s hydrogen plant in Kokkola. The oxygen produced as a by-product was sold to welders as gas welding became more common.

Bertil got electricity from his own hydroelectric power station in Huhmarkoski, which kept the factory wheels turning.

In 1912, a separate acetylene plant had also been established near Helsinki, making Woikoski Finland’s first industrial gas producer, producing hydrogen, oxygen and acetylene. Previously, gases had been imported, so there was a rapid demand for domestic, hydro-generated gas – and gas soon became the main article of the Tirva factories.

Hydrogen-powered vehicles in Woikoski already in the 1930s

Woikoski used hydrogen as a car fuel as early as the early 1930s. During the fuel shortage, the company’s inventive engineers converted the 1927 Packard into a hydrogen car that could travel about 6 kilometres on a 50-litre hydrogen cylinder in the back seat. The solution served the factory’s needs at a time when conventional fuel was scarce and hydrogen was available from the factory’s own production😊

Woikoski led Finland towards a low-carbon society already in the 2010s

In the 2000s, Woikoski invested heavily in hydrogen, its production, logistics and various applications. The Kokkola hydrogen plant, hydrogen refuelling stations and the fuel cell car were investments that we wanted to make to pave the way towards a low-carbon society. In 2014, Woikoski made a major breakthrough by building three hydrogen filling stations itself. Two of these were located in Finland, in Vuosaari and Voikoski, and the third station was built in Gothenburg as part of the TEN-T network planned for Europe. Around the same time, Woikoski also acquired a new fuel cell car and a hydrogen forklift.

In November 2014, Woikoski opened in Kokkola what was then Europe’s largest and most modern hydrogen plant using electrolysis technology. At the same time, the company introduced new composite‑based hydrogen transport units.

And today, in 2026?

Today, Woikoski is a leading expert in the hydrogen industry. We supply hydrogen for a wide range of industrial applications, including chemical, metal and electronics industries, as well as laboratories.

Demand for green hydrogen depends on customer needs and the willingness to pay for the higher production costs stemming from the use of renewable electricity.

We already have customers purchasing green hydrogen, and demand is expected to grow in the near future.