Biomethane in the EU: France leads, Czechia among fastest-growing markets
The amount of biomethane injected into the gas networks of European Union member states increased by more than 5 TWh in the last gas year, reaching 43.2 TWh. France remained the leader among individual countries, with 13.1 TWh. The Czech Republic recorded a significant year-on-year increase, with the amount of injected biomethane rising to nearly four times its previous level in the last gas year. This follows from a report by the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas (ENTSOG).
Renewable gases such as biomethane and green hydrogen are an indispensable part of the ongoing decarbonisation of Europe's energy sector and industry. Their advantage is that they can already be injected into existing gas networks today (albeit in limited quantities in the case of hydrogen), helping to reduce the consumption and thus imports of natural gas.
According to the recently published report on the amount of renewable gases injected into European gas networks in the previous gas year (from October 2024 to September 2025), the volume of injected biomethane rose by 5.1 TWh to 43.2 TWh. In the case of hydrogen, volumes fell from 3 GWh to 1 GWh, with Germany being the only country where green hydrogen was injected into the gas network.
"As regards the EU's 2030 biomethane target under the REPowerEU initiative of 35 bcm (roughly 350 TWh – editor's note), more support will clearly be needed to achieve it. Gas network operators will continue to play their role and integrate these gases by using the infrastructure necessary for the growth of the biomethane market," ENTSOG said.
The largest share of last year's growth came from France, the leader in this area. It injected 13.1 TWh of biomethane into its gas network in the past gas year, 2 TWh more year on year. Germany was the second-largest market, with 12 TWh (up 1.2 TWh year on year). Other countries with terawatt-hour volumes of injected biomethane include Denmark (8.3 TWh), Italy (4.1 TWh) and the Netherlands (3.3 TWh).
biomethane's rise in Czechia
The published statistics further show that Sweden, Spain and Belgium dominate among countries with gigawatt-hour volumes of biomethane injected into gas networks. However, the Czech Republic is one of the fastest-growing markets, with volumes rising nearly fourfold compared with the previous gas year.
"Injections in the Czech Republic increased fourfold to nearly 200 GWh as the number of biomethane plants grew from just two in 2019 to eleven in 2024, while upgrades to existing biogas plants meant that some of them began injecting purified biomethane into the gas grid," ENTSOG added.
As the volume of biomethane injected into the Czech gas network grows, the number of issued and redeemed guarantees of origin for biomethane is also increasing. According to statistics recently published by Czech market operator OTE, a.s., the number of guarantees of origin issued for biomethane rose by 194 % year on year to just under 171 thousand last year. The number of redeemed guarantees of origin for biomethane then increased by 388 % to just under 119 thousand. One guarantee of origin corresponds to 1 MWh of energy supplied.
