The European biomethane market according to EBA: production, plants and the 35 billion m³ target by 2030

According to reports on the Statistical Report 2025 of the European Biogas Association (EBA), Europe produced about 5.2 billion m³ of biomethane in 2024, including about 4.3 billion m³ in the EU-27, and total biogas and biomethane production was about 22 billion m³. The EBA/GIE biomethane map as of June 2025 shows about 1.7 thousand plants in Europe, and the average plant has a capacity of about 480 m³/h. The REPowerEU plan envisages 35 billion m³ of biomethane in the EU by 2030, which would require growth in the order of 40% a year from the 2024 level – much faster than in recent years.

Data at a glance

Some sources give slightly different numbers of plants (e.g. about 1.6 thousand at the end of 2024), which results from dates and definitions; it is worth stating the date and source.

The REPowerEU target and the required pace

In May 2022 the European Commission set a target of 35 billion m³ of biomethane a year in the EU by 2030 in the REPowerEU plan. With EU-27 production of 4.3 billion m³ in 2024, this would require an 8.1-fold increase in six years. Average annual growth rate: (35/4.3)^(1/6) − 1 = 8.14^(0.1667) − 1 ≈ 1.42 − 1 = 42% a year. For Europe as a whole, at 5.2 billion m³ (the target of 35 billion m³ applies to the EU, but for comparison), the result is about 37% a year. By comparison, production growth in recent years was clearly lower, so achieving the target in full is a challenge, as industry analysts also write. EBA points out that the feedstock potential is much larger than current production, but it is limited by costs, procedures and grid connections.

Share of gas consumption

Gas consumption in the EU is in the order of 330 billion m³ a year (order of magnitude). Biomethane at 4.3 billion m³ is about 1.3% of consumption, and the target of 35 billion m³ would correspond to about 10%. For Denmark and some regions the shares are much higher, for most countries lower than 1–2%.

Countries and models

• France: feed-in tariffs, many agricultural plants, the largest number of plants.
• Germany: a mature market, originally CHP under the EEG system, now transport and heat.
• Denmark: a high share in the grid, slurry.
• Italy: transport (CIC) and the PNRR for agriculture.
• United Kingdom, Sweden, the Netherlands: developed markets with various certification and support systems.

You will find detailed descriptions of the models in separate articles.

Barriers to growth

1. Long connection and permitting procedures.
2. Availability of substrates and competition for them.
3. Regulatory uncertainty and changes to support.
4. Cost of capital and inflation of investment costs.
5. The grid's capacity to accept biomethane.
6. Restrictions on energy crops.
7. Public acceptance.

Accelerating factors

• stable, long-term support mechanisms,
• simplified procedures and connection priority,
• a market for guarantees of origin and sustainability certificates,
• demand from transport (bioCNG/bioLNG, shipping) and industry,
• use of CO₂ as an additional product.

How to read the statistics

When comparing data from different sources, pay attention to the year, the definition (biomethane injected into the grid or total production, installed capacity or actual production), the geographical scope (EU-27, Europe) and the unit (billion m³, TWh, PJ). Converting 1 billion m³ of biomethane into energy gives about 10 TWh, so 5.2 billion m³ is in the order of 52 TWh. Changes in methodology and retrospective corrections are often the cause of discrepancies between successive editions of reports.

Summary

The biomethane market in Europe is growing, but it is still far from the REPowerEU target. The indicators from EBA reports show the scale and the trend, and interpreting them requires caution about dates and definitions. For Polish investors it is a signal that the market is developing, and the experience of the leaders can help avoid mistakes.