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Suomen Lantakaasu has inaugurated a new biogas plant in Nurmo, Finland, marking the country’s first industrial-scale facility for the production of liquefied biogas.

The plant, located in South Ostrobothnia, is designed to process manure from local farms alongside agricultural and food industry by-products, converting these materials into renewable transport fuel and biofertilisers.

The facility has an annual production capacity of approximately 100 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of liquefied biogas, equivalent to around 10 million litres of diesel. Liquefied biogas can be used as a fossil-free alternative to diesel, with its high energy density making it particularly suited to heavy-duty transport.

More than 30,000 tonnes of manure have already been received from local farms. The plant is currently producing raw biogas, with liquefaction expected to begin later this autumn.

The project brings together agriculture, food production and energy generation, with the aim of creating a circular ecosystem around locally available resources.

 Leena Helminen, CEO of Suomen Lantakaasu, said: “The completion of the Nurmo biogas plant marks a significant milestone for Suomen Lantakaasu. The project brings together food and energy production in a way that strengthens both security of supply and domestic renewable energy production.”

According to Helminen, the development is also intended to create new business opportunities for Finnish agriculture while reducing reliance on fossil fuels.

Valio, which is a partner in Suomen Lantakaasu, supplies manure from its dairy farms to the biogas operation. The resulting biofertilisers can then be returned to agriculture, supporting nutrient recycling while providing farmers with an additional route for managing manure.

 Tuomas Salusjärvi, executive vice president, Expansion Businesses and Renewal at Valio, said: “The project demonstrates how working together with farms can create solutions that strengthen the competitiveness of Finnish food production, improve nutrient recycling and generate renewable energy."

The facility also processes by-products from the food industry, providing another route for converting organic materials into energy and nutrients rather than treating them as waste streams.

The plant has been developed by Nurmon Bioenergia Oy, which is majority-owned by Suomen Lantakaasu, with Atria Finland as a minority shareholder. Suomen Lantakaasu is a joint venture between St1 Biokraft and Valio.

The companies intend for the Nurmo facility to form part of a wider national biogas network. Suomen Lantakaasu has set a longer-term target of producing 1 terawatt-hour (TWh) of domestic renewable energy annually.

The project has received €9.4 million in energy investment aid from Finland’s Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment. A further €101,800 has been provided by the Ministry of the Environment for investment in the plant’s biofertiliser loading tank.

With the plant now inaugurated, the next stage will be the start-up of liquefaction operations.