The two have signed an offtake agreement, according to which Gasum will buy the entire output of Nordic Ren-Gas' Tampere Power-to-Gas plant, set for launch in 2026.
The facility (developed, built, and operated by Nordic Ren-Gas) will produce 160GWh/year of e-methane (35 thousand tonnes) by using renewable electricity from Finnish wind energy farms and biogenic CO2 captured from existing power plants (110kt).
Specifically, the Tampere plant will be located next to the existing Tammervoima waste incineration plant (operated by Tampere Energia), from which CO2 will be captured from the flue gas. In addition, excess process heat from production will be provided to the Tampere district heating network (600GWh/year).
"In the power-to-gas process, hydrogen is first produced [18kt/year] using renewable electricity and water. The hydrogen is then further processed into e-methane by combining the hydrogen with biogenic carbon dioxide. E-methane produced in this way is fully renewable and will replace fossil fuel usage in transportation, maritime and industrial sectors," Gasum detailed in a press release.
The parties underline that e-methane is fully interchangeable with natural gas and biogas, also when liquefied. It means that gas-run engines can utilise e-methane without any additional investments, also as a blend with liquefied natural gas (LNG) or its bio version.
Nordic Ren-Gas highlights that the operational and technical design for its e-methane Power-to-Gas plant meets all the EU Renewable Energy Directive requirements on renewable liquid and gaseous fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBO).
Gasum intends to bring 7.0TWh/year of renewable gas onto the market by 2027, making it possible for its clients to reduce their CO2 emissions by a cumulative 1.8 million tonnes.
"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.
Saara Kujala, Nordic Ren-Gas' CEO, added, "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."
Photo: Nordic Ren-Gas