Finnish biogas producer Suomen Lantakaasu Oy, a joint venture between Valio and St1, has finalised its acquisition of the majority of shareholding of Nurmon Bioenergia Oy. The deal was completed with Heikas Oy and other small shareholders.
Atria Finland Ltd. will continue as a minority shareholder in the company.
An industrial-scale liquefied biogas production plant is under construction in Nurmo, and is now under the stewardship of Suomen Lantakaasu.
Once completed, the plant will be one of the largest liquefied biogas plants in Finland, and will produce renewable domestic energy and various types of biofertilisers from the manure and agricultural by-products of farms in the area.
The planned annual production capacity of the liquefied biogas plant in Nurmo is 117 gigawatt-hours.
This amount would reduce the annual demand for fossil diesel by 11.7 million litres, which would contribute to an approximately 40,000-tonne reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from transport.
In conjunction with biogas production, hygienised biofertiliser will be produced for use by local agricultural producers.
Suomen Lantakaasu said it also sees an opportunity to use the carbon dioxide generated in biogas production as part of the emerging hydrogen economy ecosystem in Finland.
It is being built in the vicinity of Atria's production plant in Nurmo.
The new biogas plant is expected to be completed on the same schedule as Suomen Lantakaasu's Kiuruvesi biogas plant and commissioned in 2026.
The project has received an environmental permit and has been awarded investment aid from Finland's Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment.
“I am delighted that we have found such a solid anchor owner for Nurmon Bioenergia Oy; Suomen Lantakaasu Oy is committed to the long-term development of biogas production from agricultural feedstock,” said Jyrki Heilä, chairman of Heikas Oy’s Board of Directors and the initiator of the project.
“The majority stake in Nurmon Bioenergia Oy is part of Suomen Lantakaasu Oy’s aim to build a domestic biogas production network. Jyrki Heilä has done a tremendous job in pioneering manure-based biogas production and it’s a pleasure to be able to lead Nurmon Bioenergia forward by drawing on Suomen Lantakaasu’s expertise in the future,” commented Leena Helminen, Valio’s director, sustainable business development, with responsibility for the Suomen Lantakaasu business development.
“Atria and Suomen Lantakaasu have common goals to promote the agricultural biogas business and to generate vitality and income for domestic agriculture. For the Atria value chain, the realisation of this project will mean progress towards our carbon neutrality target," said Tauno Perälä, senior vice president, industrial operations, Atria Finland Ltd.
"The Nurmon Bioenergia project is now moving forward with broader shoulders, as previously planned. Tuoretie Oy, the company handling Atria’s transports, will gradually switch to a biogas-powered fleet for food transports. The aim is to achieve a reduction of around 10 million kilos of CO2 emissions by 2030 through the transition to biogas,” added Perälä.
Major Finnish biogas producer acquires Nurmon Bioenergia
