Finnish gas major Gasum Oy has reopened its biogas plant in Topinoja, Turku following an extensive expansion and modernization of the facility making it the first in Finland to produce liquefied biogas (LBG).
The plant, which was officially reopened on November 12, 2020, is the first in Finland to produce biogas, upgrade it to biomethane and then liquefy it into liquefied biogas (LBG) for use in transport, industry, and maritime sectors.
The expansion of the Turku biogas plant was one of the Sipilä’s Finnish Government key projects Bioeconomy, and clean solutions, the objective of which is to increase in a sustainable way the share of renewable energy of the energy used in Finland by, in particular, improving its availability.
Meet growing demand
The plant will process around 130 000 tonnes of biomass per annum to produce around 60 GWh of liquefied biogas (LBG), which corresponds to the annual fuel consumption of 125 heavy-duty vehicles or 5,000 cars.
The plant will also produce around 4 000 tonnes of ammonia water for use as a recycled nutrient. The Turku biogas plant promotes the realization of the circular economy and the development of the gas market in the Turku region.
We’re one of the few companies in the Nordic countries to be able to provide industrial-scale biogas production and distribution. Gasum is continuously investing in biogas plants and increasing the performance of our existing ones. Demand for biogas is growing in all segments and we are constantly pursuing new opportunities to increase production capacity. We are investing in the development of our plants so that we can take the circular economy even further. Demand for recycled nutrients is also showing development in different industrial sectors. Our Turku plant is a superb example of the realization of the circular economy, said Johan Grön, VP Biogas, Gasum.
Gasum is boosting its biogas production capacity across the Nordics by expanding existing biogas plants, building new ones, and increasing the procurement of biogas from the production plants of third parties. The company is pursuing cost-efficiency in biogas production and the use of new feedstocks suitable for biogas production.
Several biogas plant projects in Finland and Sweden
Earlier this month Gasum acquired ownership of the Skövde biogas plant in Västergötland, Sweden. The plant has an annual production capacity of up to 40 GWh. In Finland, Gasum has also made a basic plan and started to apply for permits to expand the biogas plants in Kuopio, Oulu, and Kouvola.
The Lohja biogas plant and the Viinikkala biowaste transfer station under construction in Finland, and the Nymölla LBG plant in Sweden will be completed by the start of 2021. Gasum also plans to build a new industrial-scale 120 GWh biogas plant in Götene, Sweden by the beginning of 2023.
As a whole, Gasum processes around 800 000 tonnes of biomass a year in its biogas plant network and produces a total of around 740 000 tonnes of biofertilizer products a year in Finland and Sweden.
Gasum notes that biogas is a fully renewable energy source that can be produced from many types of biodegradable waste and can help to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by up to 90 percent compared to fossil diesel fuel.
Gasum now has 15 biogas plants in Finland and Sweden, making the company one of the largest producers of biogas in the Nordics. Gasum will make 4 TWh of biogas available in the Nordics by 2024 through its own production facilities and partners.
