Nordic major Gasum to invest €62 million in Swedish biogas plant

Nordic energy company Gasum will be investing a massive EUR 62 million in a new biogas plant in Borlänge of Sweden. The investment decision is the next step in Gasum’s plan to build five large-scale biogas plants in Sweden while promoting the company’s strategic goal of increasing Nordic biogas availability significantly in coming years.

Gasum continues its plan to increase the availability of biogas by constructing the Borlänge biogas plant. The project has been granted a subsidy of EUR 15 million euros from the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency’s Klimatklivet investment program.

Gasum said that the construction of the biogas plant will begin during spring 2024. By using a feedstock mixture of regionally sourced organic household waste and manure the biogas plant will produce 133 GWh worth of liquefied biogas (LBG) per year from 2026 onwards.

Biogas is a highly attractive fuel as it can reduce lifecycle emissions by up to 90 per cent when compared to traditional fuels.

Organic Household Waste & Manure Feedstock

The Borlänge plant will be using a total amount of 270,000 tons of feedstock per year. Household waste will be collected and processed by local partner of Gasum named Borlänge Energi. Manure will be sourced from farmers in the Borlänge area.

“This investment is the next step towards our goal to increase our own biogas production to two terawatt hours (TWh) a year by 2027,” says Erik Woode, Head of Production at Gasum.

In addition to liquefied biogas the Borlänge plant will produce 250,000 tons of high quality environmentally friendly fertilizers per year. Compared to fossil fertilizers, recycled fertilizers contain organic matter which is important in maintaining the growing conditions and weather resistance of farmlands.

Big Biogas Constellation

The Borlänge plant is the second plant in a series of five large-scale biogas plants Gasum plans to construct in Sweden. The construction of the first plant, located in Götene, began in February 2023 and is expected to start producing biogas at the end of 2024. The remaining three plants will be located in Kalmar, Sjöbo, and Hörby. Gasum is also planning a biogas plant near Trondheim in Norway.

The projects are part of the company’s renewed strategy to invest heavily in Nordic biogas availability in coming years. The goal is to bring seven terawatt hours (7 TWh) of renewable gas yearly to the market by 2027. Achieving this goal would mean a total emissions reduction of 1.8 million tons of carbon dioxide for the company’s customers.