Gasum biogas plants in Nordics

The plant’s other owner with one third of the shares is Nordvästra Skånes Renhållningsbolag AB (NSR), the regional waste management company. NSR has leased a biogas plant to Biond AB who produces raw biogas from the biodegradable waste it collects from households and industries in the area and then the raw biogas is sold to Liquidgas Biofuel Genesis for upgrading.

The plant’s annual output is currently approximately 80 gigawatt hours (GWh) worth of upgraded biogas. The plant is connected to a low pressure grid and all upgraded biogas is currently distributed through the grid to local filling stations.

Gasum also intends to investigate the possibility of liquefying the gas on site at some point in the future.

“This acquisition is another important step on the path to implementing our strategy of bringing more renewable gas to the Nordic market. Interest in biogas is constantly growing as more and more transport and logistics operators as well as industry actors realize its potential to reduce emissions right now instead of in ten years’ time. The Helsingborg upgrading operation is a great addition to the Gasum biogas portfolio in Sweden, where we are also investing heavily in greenfield biogas plant projects in coming years”, says Mika Wiljanen, CEO of Gasum.

“We look forward to working with Gasum, an experienced and strong player in the biogas industry. This partnership gives us excellent opportunities to develop our biogas upgrading business in Helsingborg. The collaboration can contribute to the long-term development of green transports in the region”, says Ulf Molén, CEO of NSR AB, co-owner of Liquidgas Biofuel Genesis AB.

The acquisition is part of Gasum’s strategic goal to bring seven terawatt hours (7 TWh) of renewable gas to market yearly by 2027. Gasum aims to achieve this by increasing its own biogas production as well as sourcing from trusted partners. Gasum is currently constructing the first of five large new biogas plants in Götene, Sweden.

Achieving the 7 TWh goal would mean a cumulative carbon dioxide reduction of 1.8 million tons per year for Gasum’s customers. The lifecycle emissions of biogas are on average 90% lower compared to traditional fossil fuels.

“Our strategic partnership with Gasum means that the conditions for a circular economy and a sustainable use of resources are strengthened for the whole of northwestern Scania. I am very pleased about that”, says Rikard Lind, NSR AB’s Chairman of the Board.

Gasum has issued a new Green Finance Framework which has received the top rating of Dark Green from independent ratings issuer Shades of Green. Shades of Green is part of financial analytics and ratings group S&P Global. The Green Finance Framework is a document that defines the eligibility of certain projects and investments for green loans that Gasum uses for investing in its biogas operations.

The rankings are graded Light Green, Medium Green and Dark Green. Dark green is the highest rating and is allocated to projects and solutions that correspond to the long-term vision of a low-carbon and climate resilient future.

Gasum’s Green Finance Framework is part of the company’s financing strategy and it governs bond issuances as well as green loans. Shades of Green found Gasum’s framework to be aligned with the Green Bond Principles and Green Loan Principles.

Strength in waste and circularity

Eligible projects under Gasum’s Green Finance Framework were graded according to the “Shades of Green” methodology based on their environmental impacts and risks. The methodology gives transparent information on how well a green bond or loan aligns with a low-carbon resilient future. 

Gasum’s Green Finance Framework allows financing granted under the framework to be invested in research, production, and distribution of biogas and biofertilisers, energy efficiency measures and pollution prevention and control measures. Funds under Gasum’s Green Finance Framework will exclusively be used for infrastructure related to biogas production and distribution.

Gasum’s strengths in the Shades of Green assessment were, in particular, that Gasum’s biogas is based on waste and circularity, thus avoiding potential issues related to competing land use for energy crops. Shades of Green was impressed by Gasum’s use of certification schemes on both sourcing and production aspects, its active research agenda, as well as efforts to minimise fugitive emissions – all of which are intended to lower emissions further.

Sustainability rooted in governance

Shades of Green also gives a score for governance and has given Gasum a governance score of Excellent. In its reasoning Shades of Green states that sustainability is solidly rooted in Gasum’s corporate governance: Gasum has a long history of sustainability reporting and robust processes for emissions reporting and other environmental, social and governance aspects in line with legislation and standards.

Gasum reports on all material sources of Scope 3 emissions, including downstream sale of products. This and the external annual verification of all renewable gas GHG calculations is evidence of Gasum’s commitment to robustness and transparency on emissions reporting.

This is Gasum’s second Green Finance Framework – the first was issued in 2019 and also received a Dark Green shading from CICERO Shades of Green. Gasum has raised loans totalling EUR 152 million under the previous framework.

Read more:

• Gasum’s Green Funding Framework
• Shades of Green Second Opinion
• Gasum’s sustainability and financial reports

Gasum has made decisions to invest a total of 27 million euros on three projects which will expand and improve existing biogas plants in Sweden and Finland. The goal of the projects is to increase biogas output by 60 gigawatt hours (GWh) per year in total as well as to enhance digestate processing for improved recycled nutrient output.

Örebro plant modernization and expansion (Sweden)

Investment includes an expansion of capacity to increase output of compressed biogas (CBG) by 17 GWh per year as well as improvement in digestate processing. Construction work will begin in the autumn of 2023 and is estimated to be completed by summer 2024.

Oulu plant expansion (Finland)

Investment will go to expansion of capacity to increase output of CBG by 23 GWh annually and improved digestate processing as volumes increase. The increased output will go to fuel public transportation in the Oulu area. Construction work will begin in the autumn of 2023 and is estimated to be completed in spring 2024.

Vehmaa plant upgrading unit (Finland)

Investment contains the installment of an upgrading unit that was formerly used elsewhere at Gasum facilities in order to enable the plant to produce CBG instead of power and heat. The plant’s output will be 20 GWh of CBG per year. Construction work started in May 2023 and is estimated to be completed in early 2024.

Increasing output of existing biogas plants is part of Gasum’s strategic goal to bring seven terawatt hours (7 TWh) of renewable gas yearly to market by 2027. Achieving this goal would mean a yearly cumulative carbon dioxide reduction of 1.8 million tons for Gasum’s customers.

Read more about biogas production

Read more about Gasum’s strategy

Photo: Örebro biogas plant in Sweden