Italy: Decree-Law 21/2026 changes minimum guaranteed prices for biogas, biomass and bioliquids

Decree-Law No. 21 of 20 February 2026, converted into law by Law No. 49 of 10 April 2026, changed from 1 April 2026 the rules on minimum guaranteed prices (PMG) for energy from biogas, biomass and bioliquids. The regulator ARERA implemented the changes with Resolution 174/2026/R/eel of 19 May 2026, and the updated formulas apply from 1 July 2026. The most important novelty is a limit on the operating hours covered by the PMG and annual spending limits.

What Article 5 changed

Article 5 of Decree-Law 21/2026 amends Article 24 of Legislative Decree 28/2011 and Article 5 of Decree-Law 181/2023. The PMG criteria now refer to the period from 1 April 2026 to 31 December 2030. After 2030 and until 31 December 2037 the PMG can operate only for biogas plants with a capacity of up to 300 kW that have not been converted to biomethane, and for biogas plants that have carried out the interventions covered by the MASE decree of 13 March 2024, No. 99. For installations that gave up earlier support, payment ends on the day on which their original support would have expired.

Hour limits

The PMG are recognised for a maximum number of equivalent hours in a half-year, differentiated by installation type, taking into account demand coverage and continuity of production of the plants, also in self-consumption. GSE determines these hours: for installations serving a production process, from the operating hours of that process, and for the others, from the hours indicated by Terna, in order to ensure system flexibility. GSE assesses the cost of the mechanism by the middle of the month preceding the half-year; the first forecast, for the second half of 2026, is to be produced by mid-June 2026. If there were a risk of the spending limit being exceeded, the number of hours is reduced, first for installations not linked to a production process.

Spending limits

The decree sets maximum annual spending from system charges:

For biogas, a further EUR 50.1 million a year is provided for in the years 2031–2037.

The ARERA resolution

ARERA points out that the changes apply from 1 April 2026, so it urgently gave operators information for planning the operation of installations. The resolution continues to base costs on RSE reports and updates the formula for the part of the PMG covering fixed costs, so that it corresponds to the number of operating hours of each installation. The new formulas apply from 1 July 2026. The regulator also took into account an operator's submission that the current formula for contractual revenue penalises installations drawing energy from the grid for their own needs compared with those that cover it from self-consumption. Further, non-urgent refinements are to be introduced after consultation.

Context

The PMG mechanism for biogas and biomass was introduced in 2023 (Decree-Law 57/2023) and implemented by ARERA in 2024; see the post on Resolution 132/2024.