Creating the World’s First Arctic Station Powered by Hydrogen and Renewables

An ambitious project, driven by the team of Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) is scheduled to launch in 2024 at the Yamal peninsula, the heart of Russia’s gas production, and will build the worldl’s first-ever Arctic station powered by hydrogen and renewables. The Siberian Times reports this.

The station, described as the International Space Station on earth, resembles a snowflake - thus the name Snezhinka - with seven large transparent domes connected by passageways. Snezhinka will be built close to a large lake in the windy Jade Valley between the mountain ranges Rai-Iz and Dinosaur some 30 kilometres away from the village of Kharp. Driving to the station on an all-terrain vehicle from the airport of Salekhard, the administrative centre for the area, will take two hours. 

Domes with everything required for living, such as residential units, gym, conference hall, labs, maintenance rooms will be able to host 80 people at a time; 60 visitors and 20 personnel.

Russian scientists aim to use it year-round. This is the first attempt to build a fully autonomous scientific station supplied by green energy, said Yury Vasiliev, the executive director of the Institute of Arctic Technologies at MIPT.