Europe reached a total of 1,322 biomethane production facilities in April 2023, which represents almost 30% more than those registered in the previous edition of the Biomethane Map produced each year by the European Biogas Association (EBA) and Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE). Not only is this a record figure, but it confirms the upward trend in a sector that has grown exponentially from 483 plants in the 2018 edition, 729 in the 2020 edition and 1,023 in the 2021 edition.
“Gas infrastructure operators are determined to support the European Commission’s vision of growing the biomethane economy (…) It is good to open the door for more renewable molecules to integrate the European energy system: the more biomethane produced on a European scale, the greater the EU’s energy independence,” reads the report accompanying the map, referring to the REPowerEu plan by which the European Commission has set out to reach the target of 35 bcm by 2030.
Europe already produces more than 3.5 bcm of biomethane and estimates confirm a significant increase in the number of plants and production shares. In addition, data collected for this mapping show that more than 75% of existing plants are already connected to the transport or distribution network.
In terms of feedstock use, there is a clear trend towards agricultural waste, organic municipal solid waste, and sewage sludge. The countries with the strongest growth in their biomethane production in 2021 were France (+ 2,130 GWh), Denmark (+ 1,642 GWh) and Germany (+ 1,553 GWh). In absolute numbers, the largest producers of biomethane in 2021 were Germany (12,753 GWh), the United Kingdom (6,183 GWh), Denmark (5,683 GWh), France (4,337 GWh), the Netherlands (2,374 GWh) and Italy (2,246 GWh).
Source: European Biogas Association
