Gasum expands Turku biogas plant

Finnish gas company Gasum announced that it is expanding the processing chain at its plant in the city of Turku.

Sludge from the Turku region wastewater service provider is processed at Gasum’s Topinoja biogas plant, converting the waste feedstock into biogas and recycled nutrients.

Following the completion of the expansion project, the Topinoja biogas plant will produce a yearly total of 50GWh of liquefied and 10GWh of compressed biogas. In addition to the biogas, the plant will produce 4,000 tonnes of ammonia water, a recycled nutrient obtained from the plant’s reject water.

In the future, Gasum said that its recycled nutrients will be recovered and supplied to its customers by Algol Chemicals, an industrial chemical delivery company.

“It’s interesting to enter into recycled nutrients cooperation with Gasum. Corporate responsibility is part of our strategy and everyday operations. This is already the second circular economy project this year in which we’ve had the opportunity to participate and offer industrial operators and production processes products created as side streams,” said Algol Chemicals managing director Juha Jokinen.

“The production of a tonne of ammonia releases an average of 2.9 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2), so by using an annual total of 2,000 tonnes of the solution created in the Gasum process we can eliminate almost 700 tonnes of CO2 emissions compared with virgin ammonium production.”

“Our aim for the Turku biogas plant modernization and expansion project is to implement a circular economy solution that will increase the biomass processing capacity and access to biogas and launch new refined recycled nutrient products in the market in the Turku region. Local biogas will be better available as a fuel for heavy-duty and light vehicles in Turku,” said Ari Suomilammi, director of Biogas Production and Sourcing at Gasum.

“We’re happy that the plant modernization work was completed on schedule and, in cooperation with Algol Chemicals, we’re able to expand the uses of recycled nutrients even further. The investment helps reduce the volumes of wastewater generated at the biogas plant, and the remaining volumes returned to the local wastewater treatment plant will entail lower loads into the treatment processes. This is a big step forward towards our goal of a low-carbon society and nutrient recycling – a genuine circular economy solution.”

The project will continue with plant expansion and biogas liquefaction plant investment and is due for completion in late 2019.