Biomethane: the Modernisation Fund programme will open on 30 April 2026. Grants of up to 45%

The National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management (NFOŚiGW) announced that the call under the programme "Poprawa bezpieczeństwa energetycznego poprzez wykorzystanie biometanu" (Improving energy security through the use of biomethane) will open on 30 April 2026. The funds come from the Modernisation Fund, and the total budget is PLN 800 million. Almost two years after the first announcement, which spoke of PLN 4 billion, the programme is entering the delivery phase in a much reduced form.

Rules of the call

According to the announcement (a sponsored write-up), the following conditions apply:

• Form of support: grants, not auctions; up to 45% of eligible costs.
• Eligible costs: the digestion installation, biogas upgrading modules to biomethane, costs of connection to the gas and electricity grids; biogas storage (up to 10% of costs), substrate preparation infrastructure (up to 20%) and accompanying infrastructure, e.g. CO₂ capture.
• Minimum production: 2 million m³ of biomethane per year.
• Deadline for completing the investment: 30 September 2030.
• Application conditions: confirmation of the possibility of connection to the grid and a final environmental decision.
• Grid: biomethane must be injected into the gas grid; liquefaction is not covered by the call.

The start of the call was tied to the closing of applications under the FENX.02.02 programme, in order to avoid double financing of the same investments. The first FENX.02.02 call closed in December 2024 and in March 2026 was still awaiting resolution. The Modernisation Fund is fed by 4.5% of EU ETS allowances; Poland receives 34.2% of the pool, that is about PLN 60 billion for low-emission investments by 2030.

The road to the call

The programme was consulted on twice: in July 2024 (more than 200 comments) and in January 2025 (more than 130 entities). Its launch depended on the consent of the European Investment Bank, which was obtained in October 2025. Along the way the announced amount fell from PLN 4 billion to PLN 1 billion, and then to PLN 800 million. In March 2026 the media pointed out that biomethane had been waiting for grants for two years and that the programme was in question.

Significance for the industry in Poland

For investors this is the first dedicated national grant channel for biomethane plants. The threshold of 2 million m³ per year corresponds to an installation with a capacity of several hundred normal cubic metres per hour – close to agricultural 1–5 MW projects. The injection requirement favours locations near gas pipelines and excludes bioLNG, which was part of the original assumptions. For bioLNG and bioCNG producers it means having to seek other sources of financing.

What to watch

Applicants should have an environmental decision ready and confirmed connection conditions; without them there is no point in submitting an application. It is also worth checking cumulation with the FIP premium or future auctions, because the possibility of combining operating and investment aid depends on State aid rules and the conditions of the specific programme.