Ren-Gas, a Finnish green gas producer backed by Allianz, is looking to raise more than EUR 100m in debt to advance two of its projects.

The company has appointed ICECAPITAL to raise the debt for its projects in Tampere and Lahti and received interest from lenders globally, its head of market development Matti Rautkivi told Infralogic.

The two projects have combined capex needs of around EUR 300m and will also be funded with equity investment and subsidies, Rautkivi said.

German insurer Allianz last year agreed to acquire a minority stake in Ren-Gas, which was established in 2021, for EUR 25m and also agreed a framework to invest in the individual projects. ICECAPITAL was also the advisor on the equity raise.

The Tampere project has received EUR 45.8m from the Finnish government.

Ren-Gas plans to create green hydrogen using energy from local wind farms and combine it with CO2 captured from district heating plants to create methane used for trucks, ships and other industrial purposes. Excess heat will be injected into the district heating networks.

Aside from its most advanced projects in Tampere and Lahti, it also has power-to-gas projects in Kotka, Mikkeli and Pori.

Ren-Gas announced last month that it has signed a project development agreement to partner with local energy company Etelä-Savon Energia Oy (ESE) to advance the Mikkeli project. ESE itself is on the market, with authorities in Mikkeli looking to sell a 49% stake in its heating and electricity grid operator Etelä-Savon Energia (ESE) for as much as EUR 280m.

The four other projects are also being developed in collaboration with local energy companies.

Ren-Gas's five projects are expected to be commercially operational in 2026. The company's objective is to deliver 20% of the fuel needed by the heavy road transportation sector in Finland and 8% of district heating needs by 2030.