Ren-Gas selects advisors to lead the financing round for Tampere e-methane project
Ren-Gas has selected Icecapital and Societe Generale as its key advisors to lead the financing round for its e-methane and district heating project in Tampere (Finland).
Icecapital, an independent investment bank operating in the Nordic countries with a strong focus on energy and infrastructure sectors, has been selected to work as the financial advisor of the project. Icecapital has been working as Ren-Gas’ financial advisor since 2022. Icecapital worked as Ren-Gas’ financial advisor on the parent company level equity fundraising during 2022 and the close collaboration has continued ever since.
Societe Generale, a top tier European Bank, has been selected as the Technical Bank on behalf of the Project Lenders. Societe Generale and Ren-Gas has been collaborating on the Tampere project investment opportunity since 2023, as developing novel P2X project comes with detailed planning and business case review. The technical bank’s role is to ensure the bankability of the project structure from a commercial and technical viewpoint, with a specific focus on the technical risk assessment of the project from a financing perspective.
The Tampere project is advancing towards the execution phase, and the construction of the project is scheduled for 2025-2027. The plant has been granted a valid environmental permit in January 2024 and an investment subsidy of 45,8 million euros by the Finnish Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment.
The first phase of Ren-Gas’s facility in Tampere’s Tarastenjärvi is set to produce renewable e-methane for heavy road and maritime transport. In the e-methane production process, approximately 40,000 tons of carbon dioxide captured from the Tarastenjärvi waste incineration plant’s flue gases will be used as raw material, along with green hydrogen produced from Finnish renewable electricity. The end product will yield approximately 170 GWh of renewable fuel for heavy road and maritime transport annually, as well as 180 GWh of carbon dioxide-free district heating for Tampere’s district heating system.
“We are very excited to have been working with Ren-Gas for now already over two years. Ren-Gas team has over time shown industry-leading capabilities in finding solutions to complex problems, structuring unique partnerships and it truly is an industry-leading company in the emerging green hydrogen sector in Europe. We are looking forward to continue our journey together and as next step enabling Tampere project’s investment decision.”, says Kimmo Kottila, Partner at Icecapital
“Societe Generale is honoured to have been appointed as Technical Bank for the Tampere e-methane project developed by Ren-Gas. By leveraging our expertise in energy and infrastructure financing, we aim to contribute to projects that pave the way towards a low carbon future”, says Antoine Seligmann, Director, Energy+ Group EMEA at Societe Generale.
“We are very pleased to be working with Icecapital and Societe Generale as our financing partners to bring this project to construction during 2025. Icecapital has demonstrated strong capability to execute various project transactions and bring both equity and debt capital together. In addition, they have a detailed understanding of our business model and strategic goals due to our long-lasting relationship. Societe Generale has industry leading expertise on structuring novel industrial pathfinder transaction”, says Juhani Häyrinen, CFO of Ren-Gas.
