The story of Woikoski

After August, Woikoski was succeeded by his son Bertil, whose military career was cut short by exile. During this time, Bertil studied chemistry and brought with him the gas know-how to return to Finland, where Woikoski’s gas production began. Bertil conceived a chemical factory in Tirva, producing stearin and tallow for the candle and soap industries. The hydrogen needed to hydrogenate the fats was produced in a cell by breaking down water into hydrogen and oxygen using electricity.

At that time, gases were an imported commodity and when in 1913 Hydrogen and Oxygen production was started in Tirva under the name Tirva Factories-Tirva fabriks AB, the products quickly became the main article of the factory. When the water supply from the rapids in Tirva was no longer sufficient to meet the needs of the growing gas production, the factory was moved to Voikoski in Mäntyharju in 1918. In 1928 Bertil entered A.B. Woikoski O.Y. in the company register.

In 1933, the first air distillation plant was commissioned in Voikoski, where oxygen was produced by distilling air. Four years later, the first hydrogen peroxide plant in the Nordic countries also started operations. When production started in Voikoske, the gas industry really took off.

In 1977, Clas Palmberg took over as Managing Director of the company. In the mid-1980s, the family business survived a legal battle with a rival company. This was the beginning of Woikoski’s strong development, as Clas was determined to make the company self-reliant and succeeded. Woikoski became an independent, non-aligned company and a strong total gas supplier.

This strong trend continued throughout the 2000s. In 2013-2014, air gas and hydrogen plants were completed in Kokkola, and in 2015, a blending station for special blending gases was built in Voikoski.

The hydrogen society was practised in Woikoski as early as 1927. Electricity consumption in companies is always variable, and at a time when companies had to be self-sufficient in electricity production, electricity was stored in hydrogen and used when needed. Hydrogen was also used to fuel cars as early as 1927 in the Packard, which worked quite well for the company itself.

In 2014, we took the next step by building an electrolysed hydrogen plant in Kokkola, one of the largest green hydrogen production units in Northern Europe. By using green electricity, e.g. from wind power, we are able to produce green hydrogen. At the same time, we acquired a hydrogen truck and built hydrogen refuelling stations in Voikoski, Vuosaari and Gothenburg, Sweden. The Gothenburg station was part of the European hydrogen route, but the world was not yet ready for the hydrogen economy.