Tripartite Contract for Biomethane: Towards a single, integrated European market
Read the full recommendations here.
The EU is seeking to support strategic energy sectors like biomethane by coordinating between the public sector, producers and consumers on structured agreements. After piloting this format in other sectors, the Commission is expected to begin to negotiate formal contracts for biomethane in 2026.
The tripartite contract presents a timely opportunity to foster discussion and collaboration, with a view to solving existing barriers in the EU biomethane market. This initiative comes at a crucial moment, as the EU prepares for discussions on the post-2030 climate and energy policy framework.
Creating a functioning biomethane market requires coordinated action across the entire value chain. Challenges are not limited to production or cost, but also include long-term feedstock availability, high operational costs, limited visibility of demand and lack of regulatory support and certainty. Addressing these interlinked barriers calls for a holistic, cross-sectoral approach.
To ensure the successful unification and integration of the biomethane market in Europe, Eurogas has published policy recommendations for milestones in strategic areas identified by the European Commission:
- Single market: Create a genuinely integrated EU biomethane market by aligning legally binding targets, demand incentives, subsidies, infrastructure planning, and certification rules to enable scale, cross-border trade, and investment certainty.
- Coordination between EU regulations: Ensure regulatory coherence across EU legislation (RED, ETS, transport, buildings) so biomethane is consistently recognised, eligible, and rewarded as a decarbonisation solution across all end uses.
- Strengthen cooperation across Member States: Reduce fragmentation by sharing best practices and harmonising certification and compliance mechanisms to enable mutual recognition and smoother cross-border deployment.
- Make biogases more affordable through circular bioeconomy models: Lower costs and improve competitiveness by maximising value from the full biogas chain (biomethane, digestate, biogenic CO₂) through clear definitions, certification, agricultural integration, and circular business models.
- Support Member States to optimise permitting processes: Accelerate biomethane deployment by removing administrative bottlenecks through full EU policy transposition and clear, practical guidance for developers.
- Engage stakeholders across the value chain: Build long-term social and supply-side acceptance by systematically involving local communities and agricultural actors before, during, and after project development.
- Produce more biogases from the same feedstock (retrofitting): Increase biomethane output efficiently by upgrading existing biogas assets through supportive policy frameworks, grid access, and targeted incentives.
Read the full recommendations below for more details:
