In January 2025, local farmers founded Pihtiputaan Biokaasu Oy to implement the biogas plant. The company has 20 farmers as shareholders and more than 2000 hectares of arable land. With a capacity of just under 35 000 tonnes, the plant would use agricultural inputs such as manure and surplus grass as raw materials, and would produce transport fuel and circular fertilisers.

- Biogas is an under-utilised renewable energy source in Finland. When we talk about very topical issues such as food security, self-sufficiency and security of supply, the benefits of compressed biogas should be highlighted much more strongly in these contexts," says Samuli Murtoperä, Chairman of the Board of Pihtiputaa Biokaasu Oy. Compressed biogas is particularly suitable for local and regional distribution and can usually be sold at a lower price than liquefied biogas.

Producers have a strong will to invest in biogas

Murtoperä praises the producers' determination to push ahead with the biogas plant project. Already in 2017, Pihtiputaa carried out a mapping exercise on renewable energies, and a preliminary study in the Hubteekki 2.0 project, which ended at the end of 2024, confirmed that farmers in Pihtiputaa were interested in a biogas plant. The feasibility study project produced a feasibility and sustainability study for the biogas plant. The project is currently working on a marketing study, which will, among other things, investigate the sale of gas as a transport fuel. If heavy transport operators have become interested in biogas, Murtoperä said they should be contacted to promote the project and cooperation.

The company's shareholders represent a wide range of dairy, meat and crop farms. Murtoperä says that this will also be beneficial, as the nutrient needs of different farms are different. This can be taken into account in the biogas process and the use of circulating fertilisers can be targeted to the farms' needs, which is also good for the environment.

The biogas plant has a capacity of less than 35 000 tonnes and no Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) procedure was required in this case, but the company had to submit an EIA needs assessment to the authorities.

- I have to say that I was surprised at how extensive the needs assessment report was. Of course, it ensures that sustainability issues are addressed, but I assumed that a large part of the issues would have been included in the environmental permit for the plant anyway. I fear that the heavy bureaucracy will hamper the development of biogas production in Finland," says Samuli Murtoperä.

Instead, he gives a big thank you to the municipality of Pihtiputaa and its Head of Vitality Nina Välimäki for their good cooperation.

- Without this kind of cooperation with the municipality and its excellent vitality department, it would have been difficult for us to reach this point," he says, referring among other things to the numerous projects that have helped to promote the biogas project.

"A joint energy investment for the whole municipality"

Nina Välimäki, Head of Vitality in Pihtiputaa Municipality, says that the municipality strongly supports the project and is following its progress closely. She says the biogas project is one of many steps towards a more sustainable and self-sufficient Pihtiputa. It will provide new opportunities for local farmers and entrepreneurs, support environmental objectives and make the municipality a more attractive place to live and do business.

- In addition to Pihtiputaan Biokaasu Oy's own projects and the aforementioned Hubteekki 2.0 project, the biogas project has been promoted through the Biogas Farmers' Group project preparatory grant project, which led to the ongoing Biogas and Circular Economy Business by Developing Farmer Cooperation Farmers' Group project. The recently launched JFT project Pihtiputaa Green Transition Masterplan and Digital Model, for its part, will compile a knowledge base on biomass, side streams, infrastructure and permit pathways in Pihtiputaa that is open to all companies and will also contribute to accelerating the development of the biogas plant," says Välimäki.

There are also a number of studies on the subject, such as regional low-emission transport studies, which confirm the demand for biogas and the conditions for its location.

- As a result of all the background work done, entrepreneurs now have a clear picture of raw materials, production volumes, location options, profitability and future markets. It is no longer a question of building a vision, but of implementing future activities in the near future.

- It is not a project for one operator, but an energy investment for the whole of Pihtiputaa. Almost all the benefits of the biogas plant will remain in the community. In Pihtiputua, we don't wait for someone else to solve things, we build the future ourselves," says Nina Välimäki.

Teemu Koljonen, Project Manager of the Interregional Change and Growth Programme, is also pleased with the positive progress of the biogas project.

- A lot of positive things are happening in the municipalities of the Sydänsuomessa region, as the biogas project in Pihtiputaa shows. The energy projects planned for the region now have an investment value of around €5 billion, which, if implemented, would have a significant regional economic impact on municipalities and businesses," says Koljonen.