The IAS Snowflake’s layout was demonstrated to the President, as a fully autonomous year-round station for international cooperation of engineers and researchers in order to test environmentally friendly technologies in the fields of energy, construction, heat and water supply, telecommunications, and medicine.
The IAS Snowflake - the global first-of-its-kind diesel-free, autonomous, research and educational arctic facility, powered by hydrogen fuel and renewable energy sources. During the Russian Chairmanship of the Arctic Council in 2021–2023, Russia initiated the IAS Snowflake project in the Polar Ural mountains (in Yamal) as a unique international platform for scientists and engineers, as well as for high schoolers and students.
The “Snowflake” – is the AHEAD project: Arctic Hydrogen Energy Applications and Demonstrations, which was endorsed by all Arctic countries on June 8, 2020, at SDWG Arctic Council Plenary Meeting. Not only the Arctic countries, but also the observer countries in the Arctic Council are interested in implementing the AHEAD project.
The research program at the Station has been reviewed and supported by the RAS (Russian Academy of Sciences). Russia offers open cooperation to all international partners - as an analogue of the International Space Station, but in the Arctic. The station will provide comfortable work environment and accommodation for 60 guests and 20 employees.
“The Snowflake is a direct link between applied science and industries for mass production of new technologies and not only for the Arctic regions. This is a challenging project but even today we see its main objectives in the global development. Firstly, the Snowflake station has demonstrated that full-cycle hydrogen green energy is already possible and safe.
Secondly, the Snowflake is international interdisciplinary testbed for new breakthrough technologies in the fields of hydrogen energy and transport, energy storage systems, thermal stabilization of permafrost soils, medicine in the Arctic, telecommunications in high latitudes, aero- and hydroponic, AI-assisted robotic platforms and other technologies to reduce the carbon footprint”, - said Yury Vasiliev, Executive Director, Institute of Arctic Technologies, MIPT.
The Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) - an initiator of the IAS Snowflake project, which is actively involved in all stages from current design to future experimental work at the Station.