France: what is paid for electricity from biogas — the BG11 and BG16 tariffs, CRE tenders and the end of cogeneration in PPE 3

The French system of support for electricity from biogas relied on a purchase obligation at a fixed tariff for small installations (BG11, then BG16) and on tenders or a top-up to the market price for larger ones. For installations below 500 kW the BG16 tariff was 15–17.5 c€/kWh depending on capacity, plus a slurry premium of up to 5 c€/kWh. After September 2025, new installations will no longer receive BG16 contracts, and in PPE 3 the state is abandoning support for new biogas cogeneration, shifting funds to biomethane injection.

Two tariffs for small installations

The first tariff, BG11, resulted from the arrêté of 19 May 2011. It was replaced by the arrêté of 13 December 2016 (BG16) for installations with a capacity below 500 kW that produce electricity mainly from biogas from the digestion of non-hazardous waste and raw plant matter. According to a 2018 DREAL Grand Est presentation, the BG16 tariff is degressive from 2018 and ranges from 15 to 17.5 c€/kWh depending on capacity (in the range from 80 to 500 kW). To this is added a premium for livestock effluents of 0 to 5 c€/kWh, depending on the share of slurry of up to 60% of the feedstock. Separate arrêtés covered biogas from wastewater treatment plants (9 May 2017) and from landfills (3 September 2019).

The tariff is indexed annually by the coefficient L, whose weights (0.5 fixed, 0.2 labour cost in the mechanical and electrical industries, 0.3 industrial producer prices) were described by CRE in its 2023 opinion; see the entry on that opinion.

CRE tenders above 500 kW

For installations of 500 kW and above, tenders were planned in 2016: 50 MW a year for biomass and 10 MW a year for digestion above 500 kW, with a 20-year contract without an hours limit and a price proposed by candidates, plus a premium for effluents of 0 to 5 c€/kWh. According to DREAL, in the first two periods two candidates each were selected, and the average prices were 18.06 c€/kWh in the first and 18.54 c€/kWh in the second. The outcome was considered unsatisfactory and the procedure was suspended, with a price top-up (complément de rémunération) introduced for installations from 500 kW to 1 MW. Landfills were limited by a decree of 27 May 2019 to 31 December 2020 and a total capacity of 60 MW, in line with European Commission decisions.

Scale of the sector and price level

At the end of 2018, 635 biogas installations (456 MW) were connected to the grid: 453 digestion (163 MW), 154 landfill (269 MW) and 28 wastewater treatment (24 MW). By the end of the second quarter of 2023, 854 digestion installations with a capacity of 301 MW had been connected; PPE for 2019–2028 assumed 270 MW in 2023 and 340–410 MW in 2028, and the 2023 target had already been reached in 2021. According to CRE, the average electricity purchase tariff for digestion installations was 186.4 EUR/MWh in 2022.

The end of BG16 and the turn towards injection

The arrêté of 8 September 2025 (JO of 9 September) amends and then repeals BG16. After the repeal of BG16, new applications do not give a right to a purchase obligation. Producers with BG16 contracts and some BG11 contracts can terminate them without a fee if they switch to biomethane injection, alternative fuel or biogas for heat. See the entry on the end of BG16.

According to the Pleinchamp portal, PPE 3 (2026–2035) was published by decree in February 2026. Support for new biogas cogeneration for electricity will not be possible, existing facilities may convert to injection, and the biomethane purchase obligation is replaced by the mechanism of biogas production certificates (CPB). By 2030 cogeneration is to deliver 6 TWh and injection 44 TWh; by 2035 biomethane is to reach 82 TWh.

Conclusion

For a generator of electricity from biogas in France, existing contracts provide predictable, indexed revenue, but new projects no longer have such a route. For comparison, see the entry on PPE and the biomethane tariff model.