Suomen Lantakaasu Oy, the joint venture between Valio and St1, has completed the acquisition of the majority shareholding in Nurmon Bioenergia Oy from Heikas Oy and other small shareholders. Atria Finland Ltd. will continue as a minority shareholder in the company. The industrial-scale liquefied biogas production plant under construction in Nurmo will accelerate Suomen Lantakaasu Oy’s aim to build a 1-terawatt-hour liquefied biogas production network in Finland. When completed, the plant will be one of the largest liquefied biogas production plants in Finland.

The biogas plant under construction in Nurmo will produce renewable domestic energy and various types of biofertilisers from the manure and agricultural by-products of farms in the area. The biogas plant will be built in the vicinity of Atria’s production plant in Nurmo; the construction work has already started. The development of the project will continue as planned. The new biogas plant is expected to be completed on the same schedule as Suomen Lantakaasu Oy’s Kiuruvesi biogas plant and commissioned in 2026. The project has received an environmental permit and has been awarded investment aid from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment.

“I am delighted that we have found such a solid anchor owner for Nurmon Bioenergia Oy; Suomen Lantakaasu Oy is committed to the long-term development of biogas production from agricultural feedstock,” says Jyrki Heilä, Chairman of Heikas Oy’s Board of Directors and the initiator of the project.

The planned annual production capacity of the liquefied biogas plant in Nurmo is 117 gigawatt-hours. This amount would reduce the annual demand for fossil diesel by 11.7 million litres, which would contribute to an approximately 40,000-tonne reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from transport.

“The majority stake in Nurmon Bioenergia Oy is part of Suomen Lantakaasu Oy’s aim to build a domestic biogas production network. Jyrki Heilä has done a tremendous job in pioneering manure-based biogas production and it’s a pleasure to be able to lead Nurmon Bioenergia forward by drawing on Suomen Lantakaasu’s expertise in the future,” notes Leena Helminen, Valio’s Director, Sustainable Business Development, with responsibility for the Suomen Lantakaasu business development.

“Atria and Suomen Lantakaasu have common goals to promote the agricultural biogas business and to generate vitality and income for domestic agriculture. For the Atria value chain, the realisation of this project will mean progress towards our carbon neutrality target. The Nurmon Bioenergia project is now moving forward with broader shoulders, as previously planned. Tuoretie Oy, the company handling Atria’s transports, will gradually switch to a biogas-powered fleet for food transports. The aim is to achieve a reduction of around 10 million kilos of CO2 emissions by 2030 through the transition to biogas,” says Tauno Perälä, Senior Vice President, Industrial Operations, Atria Finland.

In conjunction with biogas production, hygienised biofertiliser will be produced for use by local agricultural producers. Suomen Lantakaasu Oy also sees an opportunity to use the carbon dioxide generated in biogas production as part of the emerging hydrogen economy ecosystem in Finland.

Interesting opportunities for operational expansion

The development and expansion of the Nurmo industrial-scale plant as part of Suomen Lantakaasu’s production network would enable the intake of feedstock from an increasing number of farms in southern Ostrobothnia as well as from the local food industry. Participation in biogas production will have a positive impact on farm profitability through, e.g., improvement in the farm’s nutrient cycle. The use of manure in biogas production reduces the emission load of both dairy and meat production by 25% at best, when emission reductions from both agriculture and transport are taken into account.

Suomen Lantakaasu Oy’s industrial-scale, centralised biogas plant project in Kiuruvesi and its three satellite plants in Upper Savo and North Karelia are advancing on schedule. The company is also exploring biogas plant complexes in the Kokkola-Pietarsaari and Nivala-Haapavesi areas. Suomen Lantakaasu Oy’s target is to have the biogas plant network producing a total of one terawatt-hour a total in operation by 2030.

Suomen Lantakaasu Oy

• Food company Valio and energy company St1 have established a joint venture to produce renewable biogas from dairy farm manure and agricultural by-products to fuel transport. Suomen Lantakaasu Oy’s Kiuruvesi biogas plant complex is one of the biggest projects in the Nordic countries. The company is committed to developing the Finnish biogas market and is planning several projects in the North and Central Ostrobothnia in addition to the Nurmon Bioenergia Oy plant.
• In Finland, of the around 15-17 million tonnes of livestock manure produced annually, some 7-8 million tonnes are produced on farms belonging to cooperatives that own Valio.
• Finland has enough manure to produce about 3-5 TWh of biomethane. Five TWh of biomethane would be enough to fuel ca. 8,000 heavy transportation vehicles annually.
• In addition to biomethane, bioplants can produce recycled fertilisers, bedding or growing media. The recycling of manure reduces the carbon footprint of dairy farms by up to 10%. Higher quality fertiliser reduces the farm’s need for imported fertilisers by 20-30% and thus improves farm profitability.
• Domestically produced renewable fuel contributes significantly to the national roadmap for fossil-free transport and improves Finland’s fuel self-sufficiency.

Atria Plc

• Atria is one of the leading food companies in Northern Europe. We are a company established in 1903 and valued by our customers, personnel and owners. We are the leading company in responsible food production in the Nordic countries. Because of climate change, our most important goal today is a carbon-neutral food chain. In 2022, our net sales were EUR 1,696.7 million, and we employed 3,698 meat and food sector professionals in Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Estonia.
• Atria is a minority shareholder in Nurmon Bioenergia Oy.
• Atria’s farms generate about 20% of Finland’s manure. Processing manure in a biogas plant reduces the carbon footprint of meat farms by 10-25%, depending on the type of production.

Additional information:

• Tauno Perälä, Senior Vice President, Industrial Operations, Atria Finland, tauno.perala@atria.com, tel. +358 40 685 4501
• Leena Helminen, Director, Sustainable Business Development, Valio, tel. +358 50 355 2004, leena.helminen@valio.fi
• Matti Oksanen, Director, Gas Business, St1, tel. +358 40 483 6035, matti.oksanen@st1.com
• Tiia Lemmetti, Communications Manager, St1, tel. +358 40 048 0370, tiia.lemmetti@st1.com