University of Jyväskylä received €500,000 for researching cost efficiency and emissions optimization in industrial energy systems

Research Council of Finland has granted the University of Jyväskylä 500,000 euros for the project Industrial Energy Systems as Part of a Sustainable Climate-Neutral Society (Teollisuuden energiajärjestelmät osana kestävää ilmastoneutraalia yhteiskuntaa). The project will involve research into small and medium-sized energy systems in the process industry and how they can be optimised to be as cost- and energy-efficient, reliable, and carbon-neutral as possible.

This is a joint project between Aalto University and the University of Jyväskylä.

Professor Kaisa Miettinen, who coordinates the Jyväskylä part of the project, explains that the aim is to improve the energy efficiency of the system by recovering heat as efficiently as possible.

"In this project, we want to optimise several conflicting objectives. To achieve this, we are developing new multiobjective optimisation models and methods in Jyväskylä to support the decision-maker in considering various risks and uncertainties. This is useful, for example, in a situation where the aim is to minimize both the operating costs of the system when electricity prices fluctuate and the disadvantages caused by power outages”, Miettinen explains.

This research can help reduce industrial emissions and improve the cost-effectiveness of energy use by creating new, explicable decision-making support tools for optimising energy systems.

According to Miettinen, well-optimised and flexible energy systems are also more resilient to electricity price fluctuations and crisis situations, which also helps to secure Finland's security of supply.

“Industrial optimisation has the potential to support the transition to a climate-neutral society and strengthen Finland’s status as a leading country in the green industry,” Miettinen concludes.

The funding was provided by the Research Council of Finland and Business Finland as part of their joint funding program for research into sustainable energy solutions for the future. The aim of the funding is to strengthen links between research and business and to promote sustainable energy solutions that have a positive impact on society.

The share of funding provided to the University of Jyväskylä is 500,000 euros. The total funding received by the project is 997,927 euros and the total budget is 1,425,610 euros. The project is coordinated by Aalto University. Funding was granted to a total of 11 projects in the call for proposals.