Finland’s largest planned biorefinery land dispute moves to compulsory purchase as municipality and parish fail to agree on price

A land dispute between Oripää municipality and Pöytyä parish over Finland’s largest planned biorefinery site will now proceed to compulsory purchase after negotiations collapsed, reports Yle.

The municipality intends to acquire a 47-hectare plot owned by the parish to develop the facility, but the two parties could not reach an agreement on the sale price. Oripää’s latest offer was €600,000, while the parish demanded €900,000 for the full site or €450,000 for a smaller section.

Municipal manager Timo Tolppanen stated the disagreement stems from differing valuations: the municipality considers the land as raw forest, while the parish prices it as a ready-to-use industrial plot. After the parish council rejected the municipality’s final offer on Wednesday, Oripää will now apply to the Ministry of the Environment for compulsory purchase rights.

Under Finnish law, the purchase price in such cases is set by an independent appraiser, increased by 25%. Tolppanen called the move “not our preferred path, but a responsible step to advance the project.”

The planned biorefinery, developed by Wega Group, would become Finland’s largest biogas plant, processing around 600,000 tonnes of raw materials annually—85% manure, with the remainder from field biomass and food industry byproducts. Business Finland has granted the project a €52 million tax credit, applicable from 2028 once the facility is operational.

The site, located two kilometres from Oripää’s centre, was previously slated for neighbouring Pöytyä, but local opposition derailed those plans.