On 25 June 2025, the lower house of the Polish parliament enacted a draft law amending the law on investments in wind power plants and other laws, which removes investment restrictions hindering the rapid development of renewable energy sources in Poland, particularly in the wind energy sector.
One of the most important components of this act, however, are the legislative changes concerning the implementation of biomethane and biogas projects. The new regulations are intended to create incentives for investment in large biomethane plants and complement the existing solutions (see this CMS Law-Now article). The following article describes the bill’s most important changes..
Support scheme for biomethane plants above 1 MW
Currently, only biomethane producers with plants of capacity up to 1 MW are supported via a feed-in-premium scheme (contract for difference or CfD), under which they are free to sell biomethane on the market but have the right to settle the negative balance resulting from the difference between the market price and the reference price. This scheme has had its drawbacks, one being the limited time to start using this system. Originally, it was possible to do so until 30 June 2024. Recently, this solution has been changed, and it is possible to enter the support scheme until 30 June 2027. Another drawback was that the scheme was only available to producers using limited capacity installations. The act aims to remedy this by introducing a completely new support scheme exclusively for biomethane producers in plants with a capacity of more than 1 MW.
The adopted support scheme will cover plants producing biomethane from biomass biogas, agricultural biogas in a mixture with biogas or only biogas or a mixture of biogas and agricultural biogas. To be able to participate in the scheme, however, it will be necessary for biomethane to meet certain sustainability criteria.
The scheme will be based on the auction system, resembling the existing system for other renewables. Producers will be able to submit bids with a proposed sales price for biomethane, and the winners will be the bids offering the lowest price. The President of the Energy Regulatory Office will be responsible for announcing, conducting and setting the auctions, which will be announced in the Public Information Bulletin of the Energy Regulatory Office no later than 30 days before the start date. Auctions will be carried out in two parts: for installations with a total installed electrical capacity of less than 2 MW, and for installations with capacity equal to or not less than 2 MW. Auctions will be held at least once a year.
Participation in the auction will depend on passing the formal evaluation. The basic condition for accessing the auctions is to produce biomethane in accordance with the requirements specified by law to feed biomethane into the gas network and obtain a certificate from the President of the Energy Regulatory Authority. At this stage, it will be verified whether the biomethane installation has a guaranteed connection to the gas network and whether a final building permit has been issued for this installation, if needed.
Support will be provided also in the form of contracts for difference (CfD). Contracts will be carried out in such a way that producers will be able to cover the difference between the value of biomethane calculated based on the market price of high methane natural gas and the value calculated taking into account the price proposed in the sales offer submitted in the auction. The biomethane producer will be eligible for support for 20 years.
Direct pipeline for biogas
The act also amend the Energy Law regarding direct pipeline for gaseous fuels. The idea is to allow the transportation of biogas and agricultural biogas via these pipelines.
A direct pipeline is a gas pipeline that is built for the direct delivery of gaseous fuels to an end-customer's installation bypassing the gas system. This is an advantageous solution for entities that want to base their business model on supplying gaseous fuels without the connection to gas distribution or transmission systems. The producer can directly connect supply fuels to the end-consumer without additional regulatory and financial obligations.
Until now, transporting biogas through direct pipelines has not been possible, as biogas was not included in the legal concept of gaseous fuels. The act is expected to change this. The use of a direct pipeline will provide several conveniences regarding the obligations for gas distribution system operators. It will be possible to simultaneously combine the role of energy producer and direct supplier of energy to the end-consumer.
The act, however, assumes that an entity using a direct pipeline of biogas or agricultural biogas will have certain responsibilities. First, it will be necessary to obtain approval from the President of the Energy Regulatory Office before constructing a direct biogas or agricultural biogas pipeline. Originally, the act envisaged abandoning this requirement, but security considerations favoured a return to this solution. Secondly, the entity using such a pipeline will be responsible for the proper operation of this pipeline and adopting emergency procedures that reflect the different characteristics between biogas or agricultural biogas and natural gas. Thirdly, the entity using the direct biogas or agricultural biogas pipeline must meet the quality parameters of biogas or agricultural biogas supplied through this pipeline, which will be determined by a separate legal act.
Other changes
In addition to the above innovations, other noteworthy changes can be mentioned. One of them is the change in the concept of biomass. According to the new definition, biomass will be a biodegradable and biologically derived part of the following:
- products, wastes or residues: derived from industries related to agriculture, fishing, aquaculture or forestry.
- products or waste: originating from agriculture, fishing, aquaculture or forestry.
- residues of biological origin: produced directly in agriculture, aquaculture, fisheries or forestry, excluding residues from industries related to agriculture, aquaculture, fisheries or forestry and processing residues.
- wastes or residues: including municipal wastes, industrial wastes or residues, and wastes from water treatment and wastewater treatment, including plant or animal sub-tissues.
Moreover, changes concerning guarantees of origin (GoO) are included in the act. It should be recalled that guarantees of origin are documents that confirm that a certain portion of energy was generated from renewable sources. Producers of energy, however, can not only use GoO as evidence of their renewable generation, but GoO can also can be traded, thus becoming an additional source of income. Already biomethane producers can apply to obtain enough guarantees of origin. The act is intended to make this even more efficient, allowing for the application of GoO in electronic form.
In addition, the act amend regulations governing the construction of biogas plants. For example, the draft allows all agricultural biogas plants to be located by a special resolution of the municipal council (Rada Gminy), and will not be restricted to those that meet the requirements set forth in the Law on Facilitation of the Preparation and Implementation of Investments in Agricultural Biogas Plants and their Operation. In addition, the act attempts to eliminate interpretative doubts about the possibility of building microbiogas gas plants without obtaining building permits. According to the act, microbiogas plants producing agricultural biogas and electricity can be built with the appropriate notification.
For more information on this draft law and opportunities in Poland’s renewable energy sector, contact your CMS client partner or these CMS experts:
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