Brussels, 26th of February. Task Force 1, the first Task Force within the BIP representing 21 Member States, prepared a comprehensive report on support schemes and their effectiveness in Member States. This report, shaped by discussions held during TF1 activities and workshops conducted in Rome and Madrid throughout 2023, incorporating also insights from the ‘GreenMeUP’ project, emphasizes the importance of stable policy outlooks and effective incentives for attracting investments and accelerating biomethane production in the Member States.
Task Force 1, the first Task Force within the BIP comprising representatives of 21 Member States (Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Belgium (Flanders), France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden), kicked off its work in November 2022. Since then, the task force has become a pivotal platform for the exchange of best practices, fostering bilateral collaboration and capacity building among Member States to develop national biomethane targets, strategies, and policies.
A key focal topic that emerged within Task Force 1 is the subject of support schemes. Recognizing the crucial role of incentives in facilitating the widespread deployment of biomethane, Member States collaborated over months to prepare a comprehensive report on support schemes and their associated trade-offs. This report, shaped by discussions held during TF1 activities and workshops in Rome and Madrid in 2023, also incorporates insights from the ‘GreenMeUP’ project.
Biljana Kulisic, the co-chair of Task Force 1 on behalf of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Energy, stated: “It was a rewarding experience to witness the creation network of civil servants exchanging knowledge how to tailor biomethane support schemes across the Member States. This deliverable records only a section of that exchange and much more is to come.”
Dinand Drankier, the co-chair of Task Force 1 on behalf of the Dutch Ministry, observed: “The deliverable at hand mirrors the experiences from various Members States and allows for better policy making through the incorporation of these experiences in drafting new policies”
The report emphasizes that stable policy outlooks and effective incentives are essential for creating a low-risk environment for investments, and therefore ensure biomethane production can replace fossil gas in the Member States. It outlines a range of incentives, from production support mechanisms to demand-side actions and indirect support.
Task Force 1 members and bilateral talks within the GreenMeUp project revealed that, by September 2023, 10 Member States had introduced production subsidies for biomethane, and 14 had injected biomethane into the grid in 2021. Established support schemes in countries like Denmark, Germany, France, and Italy have resulted in substantial scaling up of biomethane production.
Policy stability emerges as a crucial element, providing longer-term certainty to investors. As biomethane investments require 3-6 years to become operational, governments must adopt a strategic vision beyond 2030 to offer clarity and confidence to the market.
BIP TF1 will continue to collect the perspectives on the effectiveness of policy measures to support biomethane market development as the experience builds and markets evolve.