Finnish state-owned energy firm Gasum will buy e-methane from Nordic Ren-Gas to supply it to its customers in the heavy-duty road transport sector and the maritime industry.
Gasum and Nordic Ren-Gas have signed a long-term sales and purchase agreement whereby Gasum will buy all of the e-methane produced by Nordic Ren-Gas at its Tampere power-to-gas plant from 2026 onwards.
The plant in Tampere will produce annually 160 gigawatt hours (GWh) of e-methane, according to a joint statement.
Moreover, it will produce e-methane using renewable electricity from Finnish wind power and biogenic CO2 captured from existing power plants.
In the power-to-sas process, hydrogen is first produced using renewable electricity and water.
Hydrogen is then further processed into e-methane by combining it with biogenic carbon dioxide.
Gasum said e-methane will replace fossil fuel usage in transportation, maritime, and also industrial sectors.
The firm said the fuel is fully interchangeable with natural gas and biogas. When it is liquefied it is likewise fully interchangeable with liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquefied biogas (LBG).
This means that it can be transported through already existing infrastructure – trucks, ships, pipelines, Gasum said.
E-methane can be directly used in gas engines currently running on natural gas, biogas, LNG, or LBG/bio-LNG and it can be blended in at any ratio, it said.
Gasum’s strategic goal is to bring 7 TWh of renewable gas yearly to the Nordic market by 2027.
The firm operates a network of LNG filling stations for vehicles. It also supplies LNG to vessels via a fleet of chartered bunkering vessels.