Gasum Expands Finland's NGV Network

Finnish gas utility Gasum said March 1 it has opened the first new gas filling station of the year. It was opened jointly with Swedish furniture retailer Ikea at the latter's store at Lommila, Espoo in Finland.

The new filling station is part of a circular economy collaboration between Gasum and Ikea Finland, whereby biogas is produced from food waste from Ikea's restaurants. In this context, gas filling stations are also to be introduced at other Ikea stores, enabling the use of biogas in Ikea Finland’s own operations as well as for its customers and transport partners.

Gasum plans to open a total of 35 new filling stations in the next few years, of which seven owned stations are already open. They will supply biogas and/or natural gas. At the moment, new gas filling stations are being planned in the Helsinki area and other cities.

Before 2017 Gasum says there were fewer than 2,000 gas cars on Finland’s roads, while the current figure is already around 3,500. It says biogas helps reduce transport fuel’s lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions by up to 85%, and cut out particulates.

It says there are almost 40 gas filling stations in Finland, of which 26 are operated by Gasum.