Biomethane share of Estonian natural gas consumption increased to ten percent
The share of local biomethane, produced in Estonia from cow manure and biowaste has already increased to nearly ten percent of Estonian natural gas consumption.
Biomethane production plant in Oisu
“The quality of biomethane produced in Estonia is the same as that of liquefied natural gas brought from America and Norway. The only difference is that it is a domestic and renewable fuel,” noted Margus Kaasik, Chairman of the Board of Elenger Grupp.
“Several new local biomethane producers have entered the market and will soon enter the market, and we have built proper injection points across Estonia for injecting biomethane into the grid. In addition, we purchase biomethane from across the border, as customers’ interest in renewable gas is growing. As a result of all this, gas consumption in Estonia is decarbonizing, and at a faster pace compared to our neighbors,” said Kaasik.
“Due to the difficult circumstances, natural gas has proven to be an adaptable and sustainable fuel – the price of gas has fallen to pre-full-scale war levels and new suppliers and supply routes are in place, further natural gas is increasingly changing from a fossil to a renewable and from an imported to a local fuel, providing competition to fossil and imported fuels,” said Kaasik.
Over 150 million euros have been invested in the production and distribution of biomethane in Estonia. Biomethane plants are located across Estonia, and new additional plants are being built. A total of 300 GWh of biomethane will be produced in Estonia this year, and the production volume may almost double in the next two years. Elenger Grupp subsidiary AS Gaasivõrk has built eight biomethane injection points across Estonia and one more is in the pipeline.
Biomethane is a renewable and environmentally friendly energy source that helps industry, transport and heating sectors meet climate goals. Biomethane is produced by fermenting organic waste and agricultural residues and it is fully compatible with the existing natural gas infrastructure. Elenger-affiliated companies currently have biomethane production plants in Oisu in Järva County, Ilmatsalu in Tartu County and Vinni in Lääne-Viru County, and under construction in Halinga in Pärnu County.
Elenger is the largest privately owned energy company in the Baltic-Finnish region, operating in six markets – Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Germany – and serving a total of more than 450,000 customers. Elenger’s activities cover the entire spectrum – energy sales and trade, energy infrastructure and energy production.
Elenger offers customers natural gas of Western origin and renewable biomethane, and manages gas distribution networks in Estonia, Latvia and Poland with a total length of 9,000 km. The company also sells electricity, including green electricity produced in its own solar parks. Elenger is actively involved in international energy trade. The group employs more than 1,000 people. The company’s turnover last year was over a billion euros. Elenger’s sole owner is Infortar, an investment company listed on the Baltic Main List of the Nasdaq Tallinn Stock Exchange.
