Finland's Ren-Gas Secures Long-Term Green Power Supply for Tampere Synthetic Methane Project

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 17, Finland's Nordic Ren-Gas signed long-term hydrogen power purchase agreements with Helen and another renewable energy supplier, establishing a diversified renewable electricity supply portfolio for the Tampere industrial-scale synthetic methane project. The agreements cover physical renewable electricity and corresponding guarantees of origin, and incorporate RFNBO compliance, balancing, and verification mechanisms into a single contractual framework. Ren-Gas stated that these agreements complete the project's renewable electricity portfolio configuration and represent a key milestone in advancing the project toward a final investment decision.

The Tampere project adopts a Power-to-Gas pathway, using renewable electricity for electrolytic hydrogen production, then combining green hydrogen with biogenic carbon dioxide captured from existing energy facilities to produce renewable synthetic methane. The plant will also recover waste heat from the production process and feed it into the Tampere district heating network, forming an integrated process chain of "renewable electricity—hydrogen production—carbon capture—methanation—waste heat utilization."

The project's main technical partners have been confirmed. Sweco is responsible for EPCm and project integration, tasked with integrating all process units into a complete production system; Sunfire will supply the electrolyzer, SIAD Macchine Impianti will provide hydrogen compression equipment, Tenaris will provide the hydrogen storage system, and Hitachi Energy will handle grid connection; Saipem will undertake the carbon capture unit, DWE will provide methanation technology, Araner will provide heat pumps for district heating, and Valmet and Insta Automation will be responsible for upper-level and process automation.

On the commercial side, Ren-Gas signed a long-term synthetic methane offtake agreement in July with avanca Energy and its subsidiary Alternoil, with a total contract value of approximately EUR 1 billion. The Tampere project's output will be supplied to the European heavy-duty transport market through existing natural gas and liquefied natural gas infrastructure. Meanwhile, the European Investment Bank has increased the debt financing framework for Ren-Gas's Finnish synthetic methane project portfolio from EUR 230 million to up to EUR 680 million, with the Tampere project planned to commence construction in the fourth quarter of 2026.

This H2PPA differs from ordinary corporate power purchase agreements in that it can dynamically adjust the project's electricity consumption and hydrogen production load based on renewable electricity supply and market conditions: increasing production when renewable electricity is abundant and reducing load when electricity supply is tight, thereby balancing RFNBO compliance requirements with power system balancing. The joint supply from two suppliers also reduces dependence on a single power source.

The Tampere project is one of the first synthetic methane projects Ren-Gas is advancing in Finland. The company has now formed a portfolio of six distributed synthetic methane projects, developed in cooperation with local energy companies. Its project system primarily targets heavy-duty transport, maritime shipping, and other hard-to-abate sectors.