RED III transposition deadline passed (21 May 2025): sustainability thresholds for biogas and biomass

On 21 May 2025 the deadline for transposing Directive (EU) 2023/2413, that is RED III, into national law passed. For the "dirty renewables" sector the most important change is the lowering of the threshold for applying sustainability criteria to solid biomass fuels to 7.5 MW; for biogas the threshold remains at 2 MW.

What expired on 21 May 2025

The RED III Directive entered into force on 20 November 2023. See the article on its entry into force. According to the EEB overview of deadlines, the general transposition deadline for most provisions of the directive is 21 May 2025, whereas Member States had to implement the provisions on permitting procedures earlier, by 1 July 2024. The directive raises the EU renewable energy share target to 42.5% in 2030. See the agreement of 30 March 2023.

Sustainability thresholds

The sustainability and greenhouse gas emission reduction criteria of Article 29 apply under RED III to solid biomass fuels in installations with a total rated thermal input of 7.5 MW or more. Under RED II the threshold was 20 MW. For gaseous fuels, including biogas, the threshold is 2 MW, as before (the criteria also cover installations producing biomethane with a flow above 200 m³ of methane equivalent per hour). The lowering of the threshold for solid biomass means that smaller power plants and CHP plants, which previously fell below 20 MW, are also covered by the checks.

Emission reduction requirements vary according to the date the installation was commissioned, and the strictest level applies to new installations. The percentage details are worth checking in the text of the directive and in national regulations, because they differ depending on the type of installation and the date of its commissioning.

What this means for biogas plants

• Cogeneration biogas plants with a thermal input of 2 MW or more are still subject to the sustainability criteria, and their substrate documentation must comply with the verification rules (see the article on Regulation 2022/996).
• CHP plants running on solid biomass with a capacity of 7.5–20 MW become newly covered entities.
• Until the state adopts implementing provisions, the certification and documentation rules for the new thresholds may be unclear.
• Member States that have not notified full transposition may become subject to infringement proceedings.

What next

After the transposition deadline the Commission assesses which Member States have not fully implemented the directive and may initiate proceedings. For Poland, implementation requires adapting the Act on Renewable Energy Sources (ustawa o OZE) and the sustainability rules to the new thresholds. Investors should follow draft laws and regulator communications, because the new requirements affect certification and documentation costs.