Norway-based clean fuels start-up Freija plans to build an e-methane production facility in Finland that could eventually generate up to 174,000 t/yr, it said.
The e-methane project, which will take up a 15 hectare site in Finland's Tampere region, will use hydrogen produced at an integrated electrolyser facility alongside biogenic CO2 to help decarbonise commercial road transport across Europe.
Freija has begun front-end engineering and design efforts for the first of a three-phase development concept, alongside submitting an Environmental Impact Assessment covering all three phases.
Each phase corresponds to an individual production plant, each with a planned capacity of 58,000 t/yr of e-methane, Freija said.
The total investment cost across all three phases of development will be over €1bn ($1.04bn), financed by a combination of equity and debt.
Up to 160 t/day of e-methane could be produced across Freija facilities in 2028 and, in the long term, this could be increased to over 1,000 t/day of fuel production, according to its website.
The first of the three Finnish plants is on track to reach a final investment decision in 2026, with planned e-methane production to begin in 2029.
E-methane is a renewable fuel of non-biological origin (RFNBO) and Freija believes each of its plants will remove 200,000 t/yr of carbon emissions.
Freija chief executive Kristian Hauglum said the start-up has "already signed memorandum of understandings for a majority of the volume from the first plant and we are progressing negotiations for additional substantial volumes".
The e-methane facility could also allow potential expansion nearby, it said.
