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Almost 10,000 decentralised plants in Germany currently produce biogas. They supply electricity for almost 10 million households and heat for 2 million households, making them the largest biogas plants in Europe.

Biogas can make a decisive contribution to the energy transition, as it supplies energy regardless of the weather, even when there is no sun or wind. Biogas can be stored and helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. These are just some of the arguments in favour of biogas, as it ideally complements other renewable energies.

Biogas sector offers 12 GW of capacity

Biogas CHP plants with a total output of 5.9 gigawatts (GW) are currently installed in Germany. This capacity could be increased to 12 GW by 2030 and make the construction of new gas-fired power plants superfluous if the political and economic framework conditions are created. SERCOO Group supports the positions and demands published by the German Biogas Association on the power plant strategy, the National Biomass Strategy (NABIS) and the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) at the end of February 2024:1

• Decentralised plants can provide more capacity to secure electricity generation from wind and solar energy.
• At existing plants that cannot be converted to feed biogas into the gas grid, more CHP capacity can be installed with new and larger gas and heat storage facilities. This means that the CHP units can be switched off at times when electricity demand is low, the biogas can be temporarily stored during this time and converted into electricity at times when demand is high. With the heat storage facility, the heat supply can also be maintained at times when the CHP units are not producing electricity.
• NABIS must set the framework conditions to maintain and further develop the existing biogas plant park. Once decommissioned, plant parks cannot be reactivated.
• NABIS must create the framework conditions for the conversion of existing plants to flexible electricity/heat generation and/or biogas upgrading and the construction of new plants at suitable locations.
• NABIS must create the framework conditions for the utilisation of alternative biomass raw materials. Germany has a large untapped potential of biomass which, from a climate and environmental policy perspective, can be utilised most sensibly for biogas and biomethane production and does not compete with food and animal feed production. This includes municipal and industrial residues, catch crops and dual-purpose crops, slurry and manure as well as agricultural residues.
• The tendering design within the framework of the EEG must be adapted in order to ensure the continued economic operation and further development of plants to meet future requirements.

1 Source: German Biogas Association(www.biogas.org)