We advised Valio when it established Suomen Lantakaasu Oy, a joint venture, together with St1. The purpose of the joint venture is to produce renewable biogas as transport fuel using dairy farm manure and agricultural by-products.

Suomen Lantakaasu Oy aims to build 8–10 production plants for biogas production and liquefaction by 2030. The company aims to produce a total of 1 TWh of renewable transport fuel, which corresponds to a quarter of the biogas need for Finland’s roadmap to fossil-free transport. St1 will distribute the biogas through its own nationwide network of fuelling stations for heavy-duty vehicles. A prerequisite for the biogas production investment is improving the profitability of the entire biogas value chain and particularly more widespread use of a biogas-powered transport fleet. The joint venture uniquely links the entire value chain, from the network of farmers to biogas production, liquefaction and distribution. Biogas produced from manure creates significant climate benefits and strengthens Finland’s energy and fuel self-sufficiency.

Suomen Lantakaasu Oy is a company owned in equal shares by the energy company St1 and the food company Valio. St1’s responsibilities include technical and project planning and the distribution of the final product. Valio is responsible for the procurement of feeds and the planning of raw material logistics.

Valio is a Finnish dairy and food group founded in 1905 and owned by Finnish regional dairy co-operatives. Valio has subsidiaries in Sweden, the Baltics, the USA and China.

St1 is a Finnish energy company and part of the St1 Nordic Group. The Group investigates and develops financially profitable and environmentally sustainable energy solutions. St1 focuses on marketing liquid fuels, oil refining and renewable energy solutions, such as advanced biofuels and industrial wind power. The Group has in total 1,250 St1 and Shell petrol stations in Finland, Sweden and Norway.

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We advised A. Ahlström in establishing a corporate sustainability due diligence process plan which incorporates best practices and tailored solutions based on our expertise within relevant business sectors. Our comprehensive ESG offering also included tailored training for members of the investment team and management team and the board of directors of several portfolio companies. ‘The ESG team at Castrén & Snellman provided us with legal and practical advice around the ESG regulatory tsunami that we need to incorporate in our ESG work,’ comments Camilla Sågbom, Director, Sustainability and Communications, at A. Ahlström Oy. A. Ahlström is a family-owned industrial company, developing leading global specialist positions in Forest & Fiber and Environmental technology sectors.
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