In Finland, Nordic gas and energy major Gasum Oy has announced that it has signed a long-term e-methane offtake agreement with compatriot power-to-gas (PtG) project developer Nordic Ren-Gas Oy with deliveries expected to start in 2026.
In collaboration with regional energy company Tampere Energia Oy (previously known as Tampereen Sähkölaitos Oy), Nordic Ren-Gas is developing a Power-to-Gas (PtG) plant at the Tarastenjärvi site in Tampere.
Using renewable electricity from wind power for the water electrolysis to produce hydrogen and carbon dioxide (CO2) captured from the adjacent Tammervoima waste-to-energy (WtE) plant, Nordic Ren-Gas Nordic will develop, build, and operate the Tampere PtG plant.
The planned PtG plant will produce 160 GWh per annum of low-carbon e-methane aka electro-synthetic natural gas (eSNG), which Gasum will procure and distribute to its customers while the excess heat from the PtG process is used by Tampere Energia for district heating.
We are extremely happy about this offtake agreement and partnership with Gasum, which enables the introduction of e-methane to the market very efficiently. Ren-Gas has been actively building a value chain for e-methane in Finland, for which this agreement is a concrete milestone. Ren-Gas has a development portfolio of several e-methane production projects, and this partnership enables us to accelerate the development of these important green transition projects, said Saara Kujala, CEO of Nordic Ren-Gas.
Sector integration
E-methane is fully interchangeable with fossil gas and biomethane aka renewable natural gas (RNG). Likewise, when liquefied it is fully interchangeable with liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquified biomethane (bioLNG).
E-methane can be directly used in gas engines currently running on fossil gas, biomethane/RNG, LNG, or bioLNG and it can be blended in at any ratio.
There is no need for any additional investments in new equipment or modifications for companies that already own gas-run vehicles or ships.
This means that it can be transported through already existing infrastructure – trucks, ships, pipelines – and directly used in assets currently running on fossil gas or RNG.
Nordic Ren-Gas has developed a unique operational and technical design for its Power-to-Gas plants to meet all the requirements of the EU Renewable EnergyGDirective (RED) on renewable liquid and gaseous fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBO) for its e-methane.
The company is maximizing the value of sector integration by capturing and utilizing the CO2 from waste-to-energy and biomass-fired energy plants while providing the excess process heat to the district heating networks, and by utilizing the existing electricity grid connection available.
Plausible decarbonization pathway
Utilization of the existing infrastructure and efficient sector integration allows for a rapid development timeline and cost efficiency in Ren-Gas’s e-methane production.
As the amount of affordable wind and solar power available in the Nordic electricity grid increases in coming years, using intermittent renewable electricity to produce renewable e-methane is seen by Gasum as a feasible way of storing energy and distributing it to sectors such as maritime and heavy road transportation, where direct electrification is not a realistic way of decarbonization.
Unlike alternative fuels such as ammonia or methanol which are still in the development stage both in terms of production and infrastructure, e-methane is an already existing plausible pathway to decarbonizing maritime as well as heavy road transportation in just a few years.
This partnership is a massive game changer with the possibility to expand the availability of renewable gas at an industrial scale. Gasum aims to become a significant player in the e-methane market, and this is the first step on that path. The e-methane produced by Nordic Ren-Gas is a competitive renewable fuel, which can be efficiently distributed through our existing infrastructure to our customers in the traffic, maritime, and industry segments. Nordic Ren-Gas has an impressive pipeline of similar projects on the way – this is a strategically important partnership for us, said Mika Wiljanen, CEO of Gasum Group.
Gasum’s strategic goal is to bring seven terawatt hours (7 TWh) of renewable gas annually to market by 2027. Achieving this goal would mean an annual cumulative carbon dioxide reduction of 1.8 million tonnes for Gasum’s customers.
