Market and investmentAnalysis
How does the world pay for electricity from biogas and biomass? A comparison of support rules, as of October 2026
From fixed tariffs to premium auctions and CfDs: we compare how a dozen or so countries pay for electricity from biogas and biomass, how much that amounts to in EUR/MWh, and what follows for Poland.
Other language versions: polski.
Several models support electricity from biogas and biomass around the world today: market premiums and contracts for difference awarded in auctions (Germany, Austria, Croatia, Ireland), administrative tariffs or price top-ups (Italy, Greece, Slovakia, India, Thailand), certificates or quotas (Flanders, Sweden and Norway, Korea), and markets in which electricity from biogas has no separate support and the money goes into gas or biomethane (United Kingdom, USA). The trend is clear: from fixed tariffs to premium auctions, and then from electricity to biomethane and flexible operation. Poland, with a FIT of PLN 828.4/MWh (about EUR 188/MWh), sits in the lower part of comparable rates, which reach about EUR 185–290/MWh.
Four support models
Market premium or CfD from auctions. The generator sells electricity on the market, and the state tops up the difference to a set value. The RED II directive (how it shaped support for biogas and biomass) promotes this model in the EU, together with protection against retroactive changes.
Tariffs and administrative top-ups. A regulator or a law sets the price or a supplement to the market price. The advantage is predictability, the drawback the cost to consumers or the budget.
Certificates and quotas. The generator receives a certificate for every MWh and sells it to entities subject to the obligation. Revenue is the market price of electricity plus the price of the certificate.
A market without support for electricity. Electricity is sold at the market price, and support concerns gas or fuel.
Comparison table
EU: market premium, auctions and CfD
| Country | Mechanism for new installations | Rate level | Status / change 2025–2026 | Article |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | EEG tenders, market premium on the bid | Average winning bid 18.46 ct/kWh (April 2026); price cap in the tender 19.43 ct/kWh for new installations, up to 23.13 ct/kWh for biomethane | Biomass package approved on 18 September 2025, flexibility premium of 100 euro per kW; the April 2026 tender was undersubscribed | Germany |
| Austria | EAG market premium for 20 years, tenders for biomass | New biogas 29.02 ct/kWh, existing 22.60 ct/kWh (2026–2027) | Regulation of 16 January 2026 lowered the rates (from 32.83 ct/kWh) | Austria |
| Croatia | One-way floating premium from HROTE auctions, 12 years | 1476.66 HRK/MWh in the July 2022 auction | April 2024 auction without biogas | Croatia |
| Hungary | METÁR: premiums from auctions above 1 MW; bronze premium for depreciated power plants | Cap of 38.15 Ft/kWh (December 2021 auction) | KÁT operates for existing installations, new ones enter METÁR | Hungary |
| Ireland | RESS auctions (contracts for difference, 15 years) instead of REFIT 3 tariffs | REFIT 3: 104.3–156.5 EUR/MWh | According to data from April 2023, no biogas project has won | Ireland |
| Estonia | Floating premium, 12 years | Base 53.7 EUR/MWh; total revenue about 93 EUR/MWh at prices of 39.3–93 EUR/MWh | Scheme amended by a Commission decision, budget EUR 1.37 billion | Estonia |
| Lithuania | Tariff up to 10 kW; the rest from premium auctions, 12 years | First-round cap 48.93 EUR/MWh | Description of the rules from 2019–2020 | Lithuania |
| Greece | Top-up to the market price against a reference price | Biogas 219/209/192, biomass 176/153/133 EUR/MWh (depending on capacity) | Special Market Price for biomass in October 2024: 101.54 EUR/MWh | Greece |
Feed-in tariffs and administrative top-ups
| Country | Mechanism | Rate level | Status / change 2025–2026 | Article |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Italy | FER 2 (20-year tariff) and minimum guaranteed prices (PMG) for older installations | Biogas up to 300 kW: 233 EUR/MWh | Decree-law 21/2026 changed the PMG rules from 1 April 2026, spending limits until 2030 | Italy |
| Slovakia | Price top-up for 15 years (Act 309/2009), for installations covered by the existing system | Purchase price in 2026 according to SBA 194–208 EUR/MWh | The top-up will not be extended, except for cogeneration | Slovakia |
| Czechia | Guaranteed price or green bonus, 20 years | Support expires in 2026–2033 | Financed from the state budget from 2026 | Czechia |
| Slovenia | Guaranteed purchase or operating premium (Borzen) | On average about 151 EUR/MWh for biogas in January–September 2025 | Average for the whole system 120.36 EUR/MWh | Slovenia |
| France | BG16 tariff (up to 500 kW) closed; CRE tenders for larger ones | BG16: 15–17.5 c€/kWh | BG16 repealed for new installations from 11 September 2025; PPE 3 with no support for new biogas cogeneration | France |
| India | CERC generic tariffs | Biogas 10.88 Rs/kWh (2025–26); proposal of 11.17 Rs/kWh for 2026–27 | The August 2026 proposal awaits a decision | India |
| Thailand | FiT 2022–2030 | Biogas from wastewater and waste 2.0724 baht/kWh | Rules from 2022 | Thailand |
Certificates and quotas
| Country | Mechanism | Rate level | Status / change | Article |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flanders | Green certificates, banding factor | Biogas cost gap from 2025: 67.8–103 EUR/MWh; Bf max. 0.56 | Support lower than the calculated gap | Flanders |
| Sweden and Norway | Joint electricity certificate market | Market price of the certificate | Installations commissioned after 2021 excluded, system until 2035 | Sweden |
| Korea | RPS with REC weights | Obligation rises to 25% in 2026 | From 2025 no REC for co-firing in state-owned companies | Korea |
Markets without support for electricity
In the United Kingdom, in the CfD rounds AR4 (2022) and AR5 (2023) no anaerobic digestion or dedicated biomass with cogeneration project received a contract, and the main channel of support is the Green Gas Support Scheme, whose rates from 1 October 2025 are 6.86, 4.26 and 3.98 p/kWh (CfD AR4 and AR5, GGSS 2025). In the USA incentives concern fuel: the RFS "Set 2" rule announced on 1 April 2026 withdrew the eRIN for electricity, which hits producers of landfill gas and wastewater gas (USA). Switzerland replaced tariffs with an investment grant; in the draft regulations sent for consultation in 2022, up to 60% of costs was proposed for biogas plants using agricultural biomass (Switzerland).
Chart: comparable rates in EUR/MWh
We chose countries in which the articles give a clear rate for biogas. The rates are not identical by nature: Austria gives the value applicable for the premium, Germany the average winning bid in the tender (biomass and biogas), Italy the rate for up to 300 kW only, Greece the reference price for biogas up to 1 MW, Slovakia the lower end of the range of 194–208 EUR/MWh, and Poland the fixed FIT price.
- Rate, EUR/MWh
What this means for Poland
Poland is among the countries in which the mechanism depends on the size of the installation. The FIT is 95% of the reference price, and the FIP 90% of the reference price. For agricultural biogas up to 500 kW the reference price from the regulation of 8 November 2023 (Dz.U. 2023 item 2440) is PLN 872/MWh, so the FIT for new declarations is PLN 828.4/MWh. In the 500 kW–1 MW band the reference price is PLN 793/MWh. Since 28 December 2024 the FIT threshold has been lowered from 500 to 200 kW, so installations from 200 kW to 1 MW are in the FIP class.
In the analyses of the "Fixed price or RDN" series (the latest: first half of 2026) the average RDN price was PLN 468.7/MWh against a FIT of PLN 828.4/MWh, and the FIP with double-peak operation in the most expensive hours gave PLN 864.1/MWh, or about 104% of the FIT. The direction is therefore similar to the German one: flexible operation pays off, except that in Poland this results from the design of the FIP, not from a separate premium per kW.
Larger installations head for auctions; the Commission extended the Polish RES auction scheme for 2022–2027 (SA.64713). A description of the fixed price, negative balance, auctions and certificates can be found in the comparison of Polish support systems. Countries that have closed fixed tariffs for electricity, such as France, direct new projects to biomethane; the Polish context is described in the article on biomethane support in 2024.
Conclusions
- New fixed tariffs for electricity from biogas are disappearing: France closed the BG16 tariff for new installations (larger projects remain in CRE tenders), Slovakia is not extending top-ups, and in Czechia support expires in 2026–2033.
- Where support remains, it is increasingly a premium from auctions, and its level is sometimes adjusted downwards (Austria) or upwards for flexibility (Germany).
- Rates from different countries cannot be transferred directly: they differ in the support period (e.g. 10 years in Turkey, 12 in Croatia and Estonia, 15 in Ireland and Slovakia, 20 in Austria), the capacity range and whether the amount is a total price or the base of a premium.
- Poland has a three-tier arrangement: FIT for the smallest, FIP for medium-sized and auctions for larger ones.
Source articles
Details for individual countries: Spain, Netherlands, Denmark, Ontario, Turkey, as well as the articles linked in the tables above.
Sources
Questions and answers
Do auctions or tariffs win worldwide?
In the EU, premiums and auctions promoted by RED II dominate, but tariffs or administrative surcharges are still in operation in Italy, Greece, Slovakia (for old installations) and India.
Which country pays the most for electricity from biogas?
Among countries with a clear rate for new installations, Austria comes out highest: the value to be applied for new biogas is 29.02 ct/kWh (2026–2027), that is EUR 290.2/MWh. However, this is the value from which the market premium is calculated, not the producer's profit.
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