Finland has awarded US$6.5 million (EUR 5.6 million) in investment aid for CO2 capture projects at Valio’s Nurmo and Kiuruvesi biogas plants, supporting the next stage of development for Suomen Lantakaasu’s domestic renewable gas operations.
The funding, provided by Finland’s Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, will support the deployment of technology to capture biogenic carbon dioxide from the two plants. The captured CO2 is intended for use in the production of renewable e-fuels.
The support comes through Finland’s carbon dioxide capture investment programme, which provides assistance to industrial-scale projects focused on capturing biogenic CO2 for utilisation or permanent storage. The programme is designed to accelerate the deployment of carbon capture technologies in Finland.
Biogas plants to support wider renewable energy target
The Nurmo and Kiuruvesi facilities together represent almost a quarter of Suomen Lantakaasu’s target of producing 1 TWh of domestic biogas.
The plants primarily process manure supplied by livestock farms, alongside agricultural and food-industry by-products. The resulting renewable fuel is intended particularly for heavy-duty transport, while the process also enables nutrients contained in organic materials to be returned to agriculture.
Both facilities are among Finland’s early producers of liquefied biomethane, a fuel suited to applications where high energy density is important.
The development links renewable fuel production with agricultural waste management, allowing participating farms to channel manure into an energy and nutrient-recycling system rather than treating it solely as a waste stream.
Nurmo plant combines biomethane and nutrient recovery
The Nurmo biogas plant is owned by Nurmon Bioenergia Oy, which is majority-owned by Suomen Lantakaasu Oy. Atria Finland Ltd is a minority shareholder.
The facility is described as Finland’s first industrial-scale production plant for liquefied biogas and has become one of the major industrial investments supporting the green transition in South Ostrobothnia in recent years.
At Nurmo, manure from nearby farms is processed together with other agricultural and food-industry by-products. The facility produces renewable transport fuel as well as biofertilisers designed to return nutrients to agricultural use.
The plant has an annual production capacity of approximately 100 GWh of liquefied biogas, equivalent to around 10 million litres of diesel.
The facility is therefore an important component of Suomen Lantakaasu’s wider plan to develop a nationwide biogas ecosystem and ultimately produce 1 TWh of domestic renewable energy annually.
CO2 capture projects opens route to renewable e-fuels
The new investment extends the role of the biogas plants beyond biomethane production by supporting the capture of biogenic CO2.
According to the supplied announcement, the captured carbon dioxide is intended to be utilised as a feedstock for renewable e-fuel production. This creates a potential link between the biogas sector and emerging synthetic-fuel value chains.
For biogas producers, capturing biogenic CO2 can provide an additional pathway for using the carbon separated during gas upgrading or related processes. In this case, the Finnish support programme is aimed at helping industrial-scale projects move such technologies towards wider deployment.
The initiative also demonstrates how Finland’s policy support is being used to connect carbon capture with existing renewable-energy infrastructure rather than treating the technologies as separate developments.
Nurmo moves towards liquefied biomethane production
The Nurmo plant has already begun receiving manure from local farms, with more than 30,000 tonnes received to date.
The facility is currently producing raw biogas. The next stage is liquefaction, with the start of liquefied biogas production scheduled for later this autumn, according to the supplied source.
Liquefied biogas has a relatively high energy density, making it particularly suitable for heavy-duty transport applications where long operating ranges and onboard fuel storage are important considerations.
The development of the Nurmo and Kiuruvesi plants therefore combines several elements of Finland’s renewable-energy strategy: agricultural residue utilisation, renewable gas production, nutrient recycling, heavy-transport fuel supply and, with the latest investment, biogenic carbon capture.
Bioenergy Business Analysis
The Finnish investment highlights a broader opportunity for biogas infrastructure to become part of multiple renewable-fuel value chains. Instead of limiting the role of anaerobic digestion to biomethane production, the projects are being developed around the recovery of energy, nutrients and biogenic carbon from agricultural and food-industry feedstocks.
The US$6.5 million grant is particularly significant because it targets the deployment of carbon capture technology at industrial-scale biogas facilities. The intended use of captured biogenic CO2 in renewable e-fuels could create an additional value stream for carbon that would otherwise have a more limited commercial role.
For the sector, the key issue will be how effectively these integrated systems can move from supported projects to commercially scalable operations. The Nurmo plant’s progression from raw biogas production towards liquefaction, alongside the planned carbon-capture development, will provide an important practical step in Suomen Lantakaasu’s wider domestic biogas strategy.
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