Joonas Laitila

Joonas Laitila

Project Director, Gasgrid Vetyverkot Oy

Joonas Laitila is a Project Director at Gasgrid, where he leads the Nordic Baltic Hydrogen Corridor, a flagship cross-border hydrogen infrastructure initiative connecting Finland to Central Europe. In this role, he provides strategic leadership across the six-country project, navigating complex stakeholder environments, moderating executive-level decision-making, and representing the initiative in international forums. Under his leadership, the project has advanced as an EU Project of Common Interest and secured Connecting Europe Facility funding, directly supporting the implementation of the EU’s REPowerEU objectives. Previously, Joonas worked at UPM Energy as a Senior Specialist in Power to X, focusing on hydrogen value chains, market development, and EU regulatory frameworks. His earlier career includes operational and market roles in hydropower, electricity trading, and district heating, giving him a strong system-level perspective on the energy transition. Joonas holds a Master of Science in Energy Engineering from Lappeenranta University of Technology and has completed Finnish Army special forces peacekeeping training. He is recognized for calm leadership in complex environments, resilience-focused infrastructure thinking, and his ability to align public, private, and cross-border actors behind shared energy transition goals.