Auris Energy has decided to invest in a container-based injection point for biogas and synthetic e-methane in Mäntsälä. Known as the Virtual Gas Network, the project will give biogas and synthetic methane production plants outside the gas network access to international markets.
The development includes a reception point for biogas and e-methane containers, from which gas is injected into Auris Kaasunjakelu’s network, and a compressor station that transfers gas from Auris’s network to markets across Finland and Europe. The project will be completed in April 2025.
The gas network as a marketplace offers the best price for biogas
Auris Energy’s Virtual Gas Network service addresses a profitability problem particularly affecting small farm-scale and medium-sized biogas plants: it has not previously been possible to obtain the best market price for their biogas. The gas has had to be used locally for electricity and heat production or sold to gas vehicle drivers through filling stations. According to statistics presented by the Finnish Biocycle and Biogas Association, around 10% of biogas produced in Finland has had to be flared because no other use could be found.
The Virtual Gas Network enables upgraded biogas, or biomethane, to be received into the gas network, where it replaces fossil natural gas. The network acts as a neutral marketplace through which producers can sell their gas to other gas market participants. No comparable public container-based injection point connected to the gas distribution network and open to all operators has previously been built in Finland.
A million-euro investment in Mäntsälä – with a much greater impact
The Mäntsälä development consists of two parts. A gas container reception point will be built alongside the operating biogas plant at the Mäntsälän Biovoima site. Containers arriving from biogas plants and facilities producing synthetic methane from clean hydrogen will be unloaded here, and their gas injected into Auris Kaasunjakelu’s network.
The other essential part is a compressor station to be built in Anttila, Mäntsälä. It will transfer gas from the local distribution network to the transmission network, making it available to Finnish and European gas markets.
Construction has already begun and will be completed by April 2025. The total investment exceeds €1 million. Auris Energy is also prepared to expand the Virtual Gas Network service to other locations in response to customer demand.
The investment forms part of Auris Energy’s objective to accelerate Finland’s clean transition through industrial electrification and sustainable energy infrastructure. The Virtual Gas Network’s impact is many times greater than the investment itself, as it enables investment in new biogas, green hydrogen and synthetic methane production plants by giving new output access to Finnish and European markets.
Further information: Ville Karttunen, Development Director, Auris Energy, ville.karttunen@aurisenergia.fi
About Auris Energy
Auris Energy is an energy group operating in Finland. We sell natural gas, biogas and energy services, and produce biogas. Auris Kaasuenergia sells gas, while Auris Kaasunjakelu distributes it. Auris Energiapalvelut provides modern heat and steam services for industry and properties.
Our company owns a majority stake in Mäntsälän Biovoima Oy, which produces biogas and fertilisers. Geothermal energy pioneer QHeat Oy is our associate company, and we also offer QHeat’s solutions as a service. We serve more than 20,000 customers and manage a 1,200-kilometre gas distribution network in Southern Finland. In 2023, our turnover exceeded €100 million.