The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment has granted a total of EUR 44,546,484 in investment aid to 12 projects under the national Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP). Moreover, by a decision supported by the Ministerial Finance Committee on 3 October, EUR 28,048,200 was granted to Nordic Ren-Gas Oy for a large demonstration project on new energy technology. Overall, EUR 31.1 million in investment aid was granted to seven new energy technology projects and EUR 13.4 million to five energy infrastructure and electrification projects. In accordance with the RRP, the aid for the projects will come from the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF).
One of the funded projects comes from Kainuu. Honkainfra Oy was granted EUR 5,599,522 for the construction of a biogas plant in Puolanka. The estimated costs of the 2nd phase will be ca. €17 million, from which a part comes from RRP funding, and the rest is covered by partners and loan funding. During construction, the project will employ 110 man-years.
The current small-scale biogas plant on the site of the Puolanka wastewater center was planned and implemented with the support of REMAC – Sludge treatment investment project and opened in November 2022. The plant operated by the subsidiary of Puolanka municipality (Honkainfra Ltd) processes sewage sludge from Puolanka and nearby municipalities and was at first used to generate electricity for the sewage plant’s electricity and heating needs, then in the district heating production in Puolanka.
The new bio gas production concept in Puolanka combines reduction of carbon dioxide emissions in transportation with strengthening the circular economy. The newwill process ca. 50,000 t of manure, biowaste and other organic waste and produce approximately 20 GWh of liquefied biogas annually. The process will also capture carbon dioxide and convert it into a permanent, mineral form. The biogas produced is intended specifically as a fuel for heavy traffic. The plant will directly reduce ca. 1,900 t of CO2 emissions per year, and an additional 1,500 t will be stored in the long term. The new production line only treats agricultural raw material fractions, which means digestate resulting from the process is fully compatible to be used as fertilizer product for food farming. The plant will also decrease the need to import synthetic fertilizer products, replaced with local, circular organomineral fertilizers. 50,000 t of processed manure and other agricultural fractions respond ca 1,500 t of synthetic nitrogen and 1,000 t of ored phosphorus.
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EUR 72.6 million in investment aid granted to 13 clean energy projects – Finnish Government
