Suomen Lantakaasu investing more than EUR 80 million in Kiuruvesi biogas plant project

The Kiuruvesi biogas plant is part of the Upper Savo complex that includes the industrial-scale, centralised liquefied biogas production plant in Kiuruvesi as well as three smaller satellite plants in Lapinlahti, Sonkajärvi and Nurmes. The total value of the investment in the Upper Savo complex is around EUR 100 million. The project has been granted EUR 19.2 million in funding from the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF investment aid). This aid is critical for realisation of the project. The final decisions on construction of the satellite plants are still pending the completion of the environmental permitting and zoning processes.

The biogas plant under construction in Kiuruvesi will make efficient use of local livestock manure. The plant will be able to receive manure from about 100 farms locally, i.e. around 400,000 tonnes of manure per year. The biogas plant will also receive manure-based compressed biogas from other biogas plants in the hybrid complex for liquefaction. The plant will liquefy about 125 GWh of biogas per year, which is equivalent to the estimated annual fuel consumption of 250 heavy-duty vehicles.

“Manure biogas production has a major role in reducing emissions not only from heavy transport, but also from agriculture. With the binding supply agreement we have signed with more than one hundred agricultural entrepreneurs in Upper Savo, the biogas plants will have a very broad impact on Upper Savo’s agricultural emissions and on the development of the sector as a whole. We would like to take this opportunity to thank these numerous agricultural entrepreneurs for making the project possible and for embarking on what will be a long cooperation,” notes Janika Keinänen, Valio’s Senior Project Manager in charge of biogas business development.

Suomen Lantakaasu Oy collects manure from farms and returns the biofertiliser produced as a byproduct of biogas production back to the farms. Feedstock contracts have already been signed for almost all the manure required, but there is still room for a few more farms to become manure suppliers. Agricultural waste can be collected from farms of all sizes and from farms of all production types in the vicinity of the plant. The liquefied biogas produced at the plant will be distributed through St1’s distribution network for use as fuel for heavy transport. The company selected as the supplier of the biogas plant is Lundsby Renewable Solutions A/S.

“Particularly in heavy transport, biogas is an important solution for reducing emissions, as it is difficult to fully electrify heavy transport,” says Matti Oksanen, Head of Growth at St1 Biokraft AB. He continues: “Biogas production could be increased significantly in Finland. We hope that the planned investments in biogas production and the opportunity to exploit this means of reducing domestic emissions will not be lost to unstable policies and changes to the blending mandate.”

Suomen Lantakaasu Oy aims to produce a total of one terawatt-hour of renewable transport fuel. In addition to the central plant in Kiuruvesi and the satellite plants, the company is building a central plant of nearly the same size in Nurmo and exploring new central plant sites in the Ostrobothnia and North Ostrobothnia region.

The planned projects already cover almost half of Suomen Lantakaasu’s total target of one terawatt-hour. Finland’s national biogas target is four terawatt-hours by 2030.

The investment will also have a significant employment impact in the Eastern Finland region. In addition to the jobs created by the biogas plant, the project will provide work for the construction sector and logistics specialists in the region.

Further information:

Valio Ltd, Leena Helminen, Sustainable business development director, tel. +358 50 355 2004, leena.helminen@valio.fi

St1 Biokraft AB, Matti Oksanen, Head of Growth, tel. +358 40 483 6035, matti.oksanen@st1biokraft.com

Suomen Lantakaasu Oy is the joint venture between the food company Valio and the Nordic biogas company St1 Biokraft AB. St1 Biokraft is owned by the energy company St1 (50%) and by private equity firm HitecVision and renewable energy company Aneo. St1 is responsible for the Finnish distribution and sales of the biogas produced by Suomen Lantakaasu. 

Suomen Lantakaasu has an industrial-scale biogas plant project underway in Nurmo and is exploring biogas plant complexes in the Kruunupyy-Pedersöre and Nivala-Sievi areas. Suomen Lantakaasu aims to have a 1 terawatt-hour liquefied biogas production network in operation by 2030.

The project has been awarded EUR 19.2 million in NextGenerationEU funding.