Infortar opens Estonia's largest biogas plant in Pärnu County

Investment firm Infortar has opened Estonia's largest renewable gas plant next to the Halinga dairy farm in Pärnu County, where gas is produced from bio-waste and cow manure.

The Halinga dairy farm is one of Estonia's largest milk producers, in which Infortar acquired a majority stake two years ago. Construction of the renewable gas plant cost €15 million.

"It produces 50 gigawatt-hours annually. That's about 1.5% to 2% of Estonia's gas consumption. But for us, what matters is that the Infortar group has four biogas plants — in total, we produce about 0.2 terawatt-hours, said Infortar CEO Ain Hanscmidt. "When talking about the need for or importance of biogas, we need dispatchable energy. Gas consumption in Estonia is around 3 terawatt-hours, and if we look at all biogas producers in Estonia, by the end of this year they should produce about 0.5 terawatt-hours. That's 15% to 16% of Estonia's needs."

The plant's technical solution was designed and delivered by German renewable gas producer EnviTec Anlagenbau GmbH & Co. KG. The project was financed through the European Union's NextGenerationEU recovery fund.

"All the manure that previously went unused is now used to produce biogas — biogas that adds value to dairy or livestock farming," said Raul Peetson, head of the Halinga dairy farm. "The main issue in expanding herd size has always been manure, and since this biogas plant provides a solution for it, we can now move forward with increasing the number of animals."

Infortar is a large investment holding company that owns a majority stake in Tallink, a leading maritime transport group in the Baltic Sea region, as well as energy company Elenger and a portfolio of commercial real estate.