Construction Started on Liquefied Biogas Facility at the Port of Gothenburg

(Port of Gothenburg) Construction has begun on a liquefied biogas facility at the Port of Gothenburg. Owned and developed by Nordion Energi, the plant is expected to play a central role in making Swedish biogas available to more sectors, not least shipping.

The purpose of the facility is to enable biogas producers connected to the gas grid to reach new markets. By liquefying the gas, it can be transported and used in sectors such as shipping, heavy transport and industry, including areas beyond the reach of the existing gas grid.

“Our goal is to help drive the transition of the gas grid to 100 percent renewable gas, and the liquefied biogas facility at the Port of Gothenburg will play a key role in that shift. It will also support the transition of shipping, heavy transport and industries located further away from the gas grid,” says Carolina Wistén, Head of Customer and Market Gas Grid at Nordion Energi.

Biogas is a renewable fuel with a low climate impact and can replace fossil alternatives across several sectors. Interest in liquefied biogas is growing rapidly, particularly in shipping, where demand for sustainable fuels continues to increase.

Value chain in place
“For shipping’s transition to gain real momentum, the entire value chain needs to be in place and working together, something the maritime cluster at the Port of Gothenburg is well known for. This facility strengthens the port’s position in renewable bunker fuels and will make it possible to offer liquefied biogas to shipping on a larger scale,” says Therese Jällbrink, Head of Renewable Energy at the Port of Gothenburg.

Producers and users are already in place at the port, ready to make use of the liquefaction facility once it is operational. Several shipping companies calling at the port regularly are already using biogas to power their vessels. They will be able to scale up that use once the facility is completed.

On the production side, St1 Biokraft is among the companies that have already signed an agreement to secure part of the facility’s capacity.

“Once the liquefaction facility is completed, we will have a strong solution in place at the Port of Gothenburg. This is a strategic step towards our goal of scaling up and offering competitive liquefied biogas to the shipping sector, while also taking a leading position in this segment,” says Ted Gustavsson, Head of Value Chain at St1 Biokraft.

The new facility is expected to be completed in early 2027 and is scheduled to become operational before the end of the year. Once fully operational, it will have a capacity of around 50 tonnes of liquefied biogas per day.

Port of Gothenburg
The Port of Gothenburg is the largest port in Scandinavia, handling around 20% of Swedish trade and more than half of all container traffic. As a full-service port it connects business to key markets around the world 24/7/365.

The port is committed to safe, efficient and sustainable shipping. Handling energy products, vehicles, ro-ro units, containerised cargo, it plays an important role in supporting streamlined shipping operations and long-term growth in global trade. With over 30 daily rail shuttles, the port also offers direct, reliable and climate-neutral connections for intermodal transport across Sweden and Norway. READ MORE

Excerpt from St1 Biokraft: St1 Biokraft, a leading Nordic biomethane player, has secured a €260 million corporate financing structure from leading European financial institutions. The transaction strengthens the company’s financial flexibility and supports execution of its growth strategy in the Nordics and Northern Europe.

The financing supports continued expansion of St1 Biokraft’s end-to-end business model, covering the full value chain from feedstock sourcing and production to logistics, distribution and sales. This model positions the company to meet growing demand for biomethane in heavy transport, maritime and industrial applications.

The transaction underlines both confidence in St1 Biokraft’s platform and growth pipeline and the strength of the company’s relationships with its new core bank group.

“This financing is a clear validation of St1 Biokraft’s strategy and business model and marks an important milestone in our growth journey. We would like to thank the participating banks for their strong support, as well as our project team for their outstanding efforts in delivering this financing. Biomethane is increasingly recognized as a scalable and investable asset class, and we have built a platform with industrial depth across the full biomethane value chain and demonstrated that our end-to-end model works,” says Miika Johansson, CEO of St1 Biokraft.

St1 Biokraft has communicated ambitious targets of 3 TWh of own biomethane production and 6 TWh of sales and distribution by 2030, supported by planned investments of €1 billion in biogas production and distribution networks in the Nordics. Majority of the proceeds will be used to finance new greenfield biomethane production assets and the continued roll-out of the company’s LBG filling station network.

The €260 million financing package is provided by an eight-bank syndicate comprising ABN Amro, DNB, ING, Nordea, OP Bank, Rabobank, Sparebank1 and Swedbank. ING acted as sole financial advisor, while all participating banks served as arrangers. ING also acted as facility agent and security agent. Together with St1 Biokraft and its shareholders, HitecVision and St1 Group, the banking group helped structure a financing solution aligned with the company’s growth strategy.

The transaction is a positive signal for the biomethane sector, showing that large-scale platforms with strong operational capabilities and integrated routes to market are gaining traction with lenders and investors across Europe. READ MORE