The investment covers the construction of a biogas plant and a liquefaction unit The preparatory earthworks have already been completed and the construction of the biogas plant will start next winter The Kiuruvesi biogas plant is part of the Ylä-Savo complex in addition to the industrial-sized centralized liquefied biogas production plant located in Kiuruvesi three smaller  so-called satellite facility in Lapinlahti  the investment value of the Ylä-Savo entity is around €100 million The project has been granted €19.2 million of EU recovery and recovery support (RRF investment support) The support is critical for the realization of the project The final construction decisions for the satellite facilities still await the completion of the environmental permit and zoning processes The biogas plant under construction in Kiuruvedi makes efficient use of livestock manure from the nearby area The facility can receive the manure quantities of around one hundred farms in the surrounding area around 400 thousand tons of manure per year the biogas plant receives manure-based pressurized biogas from other biogas plants for liquefaction The plant liquefies a total of approximately 125 GWh of biogas per year which is roughly equivalent to the annual fuel volume of 250 heavy-duty vehicles "Manure biogas production is of great importance in reducing agricultural emissions We have entered into a binding supply agreement with over a hundred agricultural entrepreneurs from Upper Savo the biogas plants have a very large impact on the emissions of agriculture in Upper Savo and the development of the entire industry we already thank all these numerous agricultural entrepreneurs for making the project possible and for the long-term collaboration," says project manager  Janika Keinänen  from Valio who is responsible for the development of the biogas business Suomen Lantakaasu Oy collects the manure from the farms and returns the biofertilizer produced as a byproduct in biogas production back to the farms Feed contracts have already been signed for almost the entire amount of manure needed but there is still space for a few new farms to supply manure Agricultural waste can be picked up from farms of all sizes and different production directions in the vicinity of the facility The liquefied biogas produced at the plant is distributed through St1's distribution network as fuel for heavy traffic Lundsby Renewable Solutions A/S has been chosen as the supplier of the biogas plant biogas is an important solution for reducing emissions because it is difficult to fully electrify heavy traffic," says St1 Biokraft's Head of Growth Matti Oksanen and continues: "Biogas production in Finland could be significantly increased We hope that the investments planned for the production of biogas and the opportunity to utilize this domestic means of reducing emissions will not be lost with a pushy policy and changes in the distribution obligation."  Suomen Lantakaasu Oy's goal is to produce a total of one terawatt hour of renewable transport fuel In addition to the central plant and satellite plants in Kiuruvesi the company is building a central plant of almost the same size in Nurmo as well as exploring new central plant locations in Ostrobothnia and North Ostrobothnia The planned projects already cover almost half of Suomen Lantakaas' total goal of one terawatt hour Finland's national biogas target by 2030 is four terawatt hours The investment also has a significant employment impact on the Eastern Finland region In addition to the jobs created at the biogas plant the project will employ experts in construction and logistics in the area Suomen Lantakaasu Oy’s biogas plant to be constructed in Kiuruvesi Finland will produce renewable liquefied biogas from cattle farm manure in Upper Savo and from other agricultural and food industry byproducts The investment covers the construction of the biogas plant and the liquefaction unit The preparatory groundwork phase has already been finalized and construction of the biogas plant will begin this winter The plant will be completed in 2026.   The Kiuruvesi biogas plant is part of the Upper Savo complex that includes the industrial-scale centralised liquefied biogas production plant in Kiuruvesi as well as three smaller satellite plants in Lapinlahti The total value of the investment in the Upper Savo complex is around EUR 100 million The project has been granted EUR 19.2 million in funding from the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF investment aid) This aid is critical for realisation of the project The final decisions on construction of the satellite plants are still pending the completion of the environmental permitting and zoning processes.  The biogas plant under construction in Kiuruvesi will make efficient use of local livestock manure The plant will be able to receive manure from about 100 farms locally The biogas plant will also receive manure-based compressed biogas from other biogas plants in the hybrid complex for liquefaction The plant will liquefy about 125 GWh of biogas per year which is equivalent to the estimated annual fuel consumption of 250 heavy-duty vehicles.  “Manure biogas production has a major role in reducing emissions not only from heavy transport With the binding supply agreement we have signed with more than one hundred agricultural entrepreneurs in Upper Savo the biogas plants will have a very broad impact on Upper Savo’s agricultural emissions and on the development of the sector as a whole We would like to take this opportunity to thank these numerous agricultural entrepreneurs for making the project possible and for embarking on what will be a long cooperation,” notes Janika Keinänen Valio’s Senior Project Manager in charge of biogas business development.  Suomen Lantakaasu Oy collects manure from farms and returns the biofertiliser produced as a byproduct of biogas production back to the farms Feedstock contracts have already been signed for almost all the manure required but there is still room for a few more farms to become manure suppliers Agricultural waste can be collected from farms of all sizes and from farms of all production types in the vicinity of the plant The liquefied biogas produced at the plant will be distributed through St1’s distribution network for use as fuel for heavy transport The company selected as the supplier of the biogas plant is Lundsby Renewable Solutions A/S.  as it is difficult to fully electrify heavy transport,” says Matti Oksanen He continues: “Biogas production could be increased significantly in Finland We hope that the planned investments in biogas production and the opportunity to exploit this means of reducing domestic emissions will not be lost to unstable policies and changes to the blending mandate.”  Suomen Lantakaasu Oy aims to produce a total of one terawatt-hour of renewable transport fuel In addition to the central plant in Kiuruvesi and the satellite plants the company is building a central plant of nearly the same size in Nurmo and exploring new central plant sites in the Ostrobothnia and North Ostrobothnia region.  The planned projects already cover almost half of Suomen Lantakaasu’s total target of one terawatt-hour Finland’s national biogas target is four terawatt-hours by 2030.  The investment will also have a significant employment impact in the Eastern Finland region In addition to the jobs created by the biogas plant the project will provide work for the construction sector and logistics specialists in the region.  The project has been awarded EUR 19.2 million in NextGenerationEU funding.  Valio Ltd, Leena Helminen, Sustainable business development director, tel. +358 50 355 2004, leena.helminen@valio.fi  Suomen Lantakaasu Oy is the joint venture between the food company Valio and the Nordic biogas company St1 Biokraft AB St1 Biokraft is owned by the energy company St1 (50%) and by private equity firm HitecVision and renewable energy company Aneo St1 is responsible for the Finnish distribution and sales of the biogas produced by Suomen Lantakaasu Suomen Lantakaasu has an industrial-scale biogas plant project underway in Nurmo and is exploring biogas plant complexes in the Kruunupyy-Pedersöre and Nivala-Sievi areas Suomen Lantakaasu aims to have a 1 terawatt-hour liquefied biogas production network in operation by 2030.  The Kiuruvesi plant will have the capacity to process approximately 400,000t per year from locally procured livestock manure Suomen Lantakaasu is set to construct a renewable biogas plant in Kiuruvesi Suomen Lantakaasu is a joint venture between Valio and St1 Biokraft The plant is a key part of the Upper Savo complex which includes a centralised liquefied biogas production facility and three satellite plants The total investment is valued at approximately €100m ($106.46m) bolstered by €19.2m in EU Recovery and Resilience Facility funding The Kiuruvesi biogas plant will utilise local livestock manure with the capacity to process around 400,000 tonnes (t) per year from nearly 100 farms It will also receive manure-based compressed biogas from other plants within the complex for liquefaction Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis the plant is expected to liquefy about 125GWh of biogas sufficient to fuel an estimated 250 heavy-duty vehicles Suomen Lantakaasu manages the full cycle of manure collection from farms and returns the resulting biofertiliser back to the agricultural sector with opportunities for additional farms to participate The biogas produced will be integrated into St1’s distribution network The investment aligns with Finland’s national biogas target of 4TWh by 2030 with Suomen Lantakaasu aiming to generate 1TWh of renewable transport fuel The company is also developing a central plant in Nurmo and scouting for new plant sites in the Ostrobothnia regions with the planned projects already accounting for nearly half of their goal The project’s impact extends beyond energy production promising significant employment opportunities in Eastern Finland It will create jobs not only at the biogas plant itself but also in the construction and logistics sectors of the region The project’s funding from the NextGenerationEU initiative underscores its importance to the region’s sustainable development Valio senior project manager Janika Keinänen said: “Manure biogas production has a major role in reducing emissions not only from heavy transport “With the binding supply agreement we have signed with more than 100 agricultural entrepreneurs in Upper Savo the biogas plants will have a very broad impact on Upper Savo’s agricultural emissions and on the development of the sector as a whole.” Give your business an edge with our leading industry insights View all newsletters from across the GlobalData Media network Please Register or Sign in to view this content Quantum Commodity Intelligence is a premium paid subscription service for professionals in the oil Quantum Biofuels service subscribers have access to: Get in touch with us for subscription information on all Quantum platforms HELSINKI FINLAND JUser: :_load: Unable to load user with ID: 58 The Finnish flag was flown half-mast outside Attendo’s Kallionsydän nursing home in Kiuruvesi has been brought under the control of regional authorities after almost a third of its residents died of and half of staff were infected with the new coronavirus The Ylä-Savo Sote Joint Municipal Authority took control of the 30-bed unit said earlier this week the management of the nursing home made serious mistakes in the early stage of the epidemic and failed to rectify them even after an inspection and several notices “Management and compliance with hygiene orders were nowhere near close to the level required in these circumstances. The entire operation suffered from the shortcomings in management. The nursing was no longer appropriate from the viewpoint of the clients,” she stated in an interview with YLE on Tuesday Pakkanen added that shortcomings were detected in general hygiene cleaning procedures and assessing the care intensity of clients The nursing home also failed to properly isolate infected clients from others “I reckon the whole nursing home has been exposed,” she said Media reports about the high number of infections in the care unit emerged last week acknowledged that the private health care provider is no longer able to guarantee the safety of the residents in circumstances where the active staff was heavily overburdened Coronavirus-related deaths have occurred also in other nursing homes in Finland the head of social and health services at the City of Espoo stated to the newspaper that four elderly people have died of and 18 contracted the coronavirus in nursing homes in Espoo All of the deaths have taken place in privately run facilities The City of Espoo has a total assisted living capacity of 1,350 for the elderly has yet to record a single coronavirus-related death in its nursing homes the head of elderly and disabled services a the City of Vantaa Aleksi Teivainen – HTSource: Uusi Suomi Advertisement inquiries and other after-sales issues: info@helsinkitimes.fi Helsinki Times is the first and only English language newspaper providing news about Finland in English A weekly print edition of Helsinki Times was published from March 2007 up until Feb Helsinki Times is an online-only publication and other groups and individuals interested in Finland from all around the world © Helsinki Times All rights reserved.  Terms of Use | Privacy Policy Open image viewerRisto Juntunen from Kiuruvesi hunting association told Yle that the association is not interested in who takes over the assistance duties going forward. Image: Antti-Petteri Karhunen / YleYle News27.6.2023 12:19•Updated 27.6.2023 13:17Two hunting associations say they will no longer help police in disposing of injured animals, citing a breakdown of trust with law enforcement and the high cost involved in disposing of carcasses. The so-called executive assistance in large game matters, or SRVA contracts allow hunting associations to provide assistance to the police in disposing of injured animals. Police are reliant on these contracts in dealing with injured animals that must be euthanised. Kiuruvesi hunting association handed in their contract termination letter in March and after a three-month notice period, the contract has now come to an end. The situation could be seen as a strike, the association's operations manager Risto Juntunen told Yle. He says that the association is not interested in who takes over the assistance duties going forward. ”It could be a neighbourhood club or the local Martha organisation [Finnish women's organisation providing advice on domestic chores]. It's none of our business,” Juntunen commented. The Kiuruvesi hunting association's departure from providing SRVA services can be linked to an incident six years ago. Juntunen and a fellow hunter had been requested by the police to attend a local house to dispose of a number of stray cats that roamed around the house. The hunters shot the cats with .22-calibre weapons as part of the assistance requested by the police. The SRVA contract obliges the hunters to comply with the Finnish Animal Welfare Act when attending police calls. It was found that in Kiuruvesi, some of the cats were not killed in the manner required by law - by being captured and shot in the head. At least one cat was shot under a car, another on the side of a barn, and a third in the barn loft while they were still running free. In February this year, the district court of Pohjois Savo fined the two hunters for animal cruelty. According to Juntunen, the case led to a breakdown in trust between the hunters and the police. He says they now want better legal protection. ”At the very least, they [the police] should pay the court bills if this happens,” Juntunen said. Open image viewerThe hunting associations assist the police with roadkills and hunting down injured large-game animals such as deer, moose and bears. Image: Jaakko KorpelaAssistance contract also terminated in EspooIn Southern Finland, the Espoo-Kauniainen hunting association has also terminated their SRVA contract, albeit for a different reason than in Kiuruvesi. The association helps the police with numerous road kills, which cannot be disposed of easily or cheaply anymore, the operational director Fredrik Eklundh explained to Yle. Previously, the association would have delivered the animals killed in road accidents to Ämmänsuo landfill, where they were buried to the ground. Now the carcasses need to be taken to be cremated, which costs over a 100 euros per animal - something the association cannot afford. ”Last year there were 176 carcasses to be cremated,” Eklundh said. The SRVA contract between the Espoo-Kauniainen hunting association and the police is expected to expire on 13 July. However, negotiations with the city of Espoo about a suitable and free carcass burial place are currently ongoing, according to Eklundh. Two hunting associations withdrawing from SRVA contracts is not unheard of, although it is rare. A somewhat similar situation happened in Lieksa in 2018 , when the local hunting association refused to renew an SRVA contract with the police. According to the Detective Inspector Harri-Pekka Pohjolainen, who is responsible for SRVA in eastern Finland, the reluctance to renew the contract in Lieksa was a protest against big-game policy. When the people in charge changed, cooperation with the police also returned to normal, Pohjolainen said. In Kiuruvesi, the police have made an agreement with neighbouring hunting associations on taking over the SRVA contract if need be. The Detective Inspector admits that the police are completely dependent on the hunting associations when it comes to tracking deer and large animals injured in traffic accidents - and if the withdrawal from contracts becomes widespread, it could have a significant impact. ”We simply don't have the know-how or equipment, or the time to go and track the animals,” Pohjolainen commented. Open image viewerThe city-run Kontula Senior Centre is in eastern Helsinki Image: Janne Järvinen / YleYle News25.4.2020 18:40•Updated 25.4.2020 20:49Yle has learned of another care facility where multiple residents have died of coronavirus complications 10 people had died of the illness at the Kontula Senior Centre in eastern Helsinki City officials say the origin of the first infection remains unclear Employees tell Yle that the situation at the centre has been chaotic at times and that there was a delayed response to the spread of the disease says that there have been fewer corona-related deaths there than at the Kontula site Employees tell Yle that at some of Helsinki’s city-run nursing homes nurses have had to take care of cleaning and laundry and that there have been shortages of personal protective equipment Helsinki police have begun a general preliminary study of the city’s nursing homes So far it is not focusing on any particular facility and a formal preliminary investigation has not begun Meanwhile the Regional State Administrative Agency of Southern Finland is looking into procedures at the Töölö Senior Centre and Sanervakoti JUser: :_load: Unable to load user with ID: 42 this low rumbling sound starts on the other side of the wall ever since the heat pump was installed,” explains Katri Biss A bouquet of flowers decorates the kitchen table of the flat in Kiuruvesi to celebrate the family’s first child born just over a week ago who has just settled the baby down to sleep brings a pile of papers documenting the noise measurements through to the kitchen as the elderly residents of the other 25 flats of the housing company do not seem to believe their claims on the noise problems The building’s structures carry the noise to the living room as well,” Dimitri Biss says The noise level in the Bisses’ bedroom generated by the heat pump exceeds the maximum level both at night and during the daytime environmental inspector at the social and health care district of Ylä-Savo Low frequency noise produced by heat pumps and geothermal heat pumps ventilation systems and wind farms is a growing problem senior officer at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health the current instructions on noise levels will become enforceable regulations in the autumn when the maximum noise level for music played at night will drop from 30 decibels to 25 The noise levels measured in the flat in Kiuruvesi reached 58.8 decibels at the frequency of 50Hz every 10 to 20 minutes at all hours of the day “The soundproofing of the pump’s compressor is as good as for any other make There is soft padding under the pump’s feet,” explains Yrjö Urjansson from the heat pump company Termia some 100,000 geothermal heat pumps have been installed in Finland “We have tried to get rid of the noise by several different means but to no avail,” explains Reijo Tikkanen the chair of the housing company board in Kiuruvesi ““The main problem is that the concrete structure of the block of flats dating back to 1975 isn’t strong enough to deaden or stop the low frequency sound waves,” explains Raimo Määttä the managing director of Sotkamon Porakaivo Oy “Some of the companies installing heat pumps do sound insulation for the noise caused by the vibration but architectural acousticians are better equipped to deal with the sound carried by the structures,” explains Heikki Helimäki the managing director of the Helimäki engineering firm specialising in acoustics The type of insulation for vibration that needs to be used depends on whether the pump is installed on a concrete base or a softer surface “You also need an acoustician to estimate how the sound will be carried by the pipes and other structures to the interior of the building,” says Helimäki Tapio Mainio –HS Niina Woolley – HT ©HELSINGIN SANOMAT Image: Kai Tirkkonen