Finland ‘s Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment has awarded €26.6 million ($28.5 million) in state investment aid to three industrial biogenic carbon capture (BECCS) projects.
The captured biogenic CO2 will be utilized primarily as a carbon feedstock to produce synthetic electrofuels (e-fuels), supporting national and European decarbonization goals.
The funding initiative is designed to accelerate early commercial deployments of biogenic carbon capture systems while establishing scalable technical blueprints for future industrial rollouts.
Minister of Climate and the Environment Sari Multala emphasized that leveraging Finland’s abundant forestry and bioeconomy assets positions the nation to become a European leader in biogenic carbon utilization and negative emissions.
Funding Allocated Across Pulp Processing And Biogas Capture Assets
The €26.6 million funding package was distributed across three commercial-scale biogenic capture initiatives:
- Metsä Fibre Oy (€21 Million): Funding a carbon capture facility integrated into flue gas streams at Metsä Group’s Rauma pulp mill, featuring an annual capture capacity of 100,000 metric tons of biogenic CO2.
- Nurmon Bioenergia Oy (€2.8 Million): Supporting carbon capture infrastructure at the Nurmo biogas facility, designed to capture 17,500 tons of biogenic CO2 per year.
- Suomen Lantakaasu Oy (€2.8 Million): Backing a biogenic capture installation at the Kiuruvesi biogas plant, targeting an annual capacity of 17,500 tons of biogenic CO2.
Under the regulatory conditions of the state decree, receiving projects must verify downstream utilization or permanent storage pathways, begin capture operations by 2030 at the latest, and maintain active operations through at least 2035 without combining additional government grants.
Relevant: Switzerland Marks Commercial BECCS Debut With First CO2 Shipment To Denmark
While the European Commission continues to highlight negative emissions and biogenic carbon management as core pillars of EU climate strategy, regional project development has progressed slower than originally anticipated.
High upfront capital expenditure, persistent regulatory gaps, and stringent state aid rules have created hurdles for developers seeking project finance.
Recent proposed revisions to the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) Directive aim to incentivize carbon capture in hard-to-abate sectors, though market participants remain cautious regarding whether proposed amendments offer sufficient financial returns to drive large-scale capital deployments.
To complement existing grant mechanisms, the Finnish Ministry of Finance is currently preparing a clean industry tax credit scheme, which could provide additional financial backing for future large-scale carbon capture installations across the country.
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