Czech agriculture ministry to commission study on potential use of biogas plants to produce biomethane

The Ministry of Agriculture will commission a study on the potential use of biogas plants in Czechia to produce biomethane, which could replace up to a fifth of the country’s imported fossil natural gas supplies in the future. Agriculture Minister Marek Výborný (KDU-ČSL) told the Czech News Agency (ČTK) and Czech Radio today in Haňovice, in the Olomouc region.

„I want clear data on how many biogas plants can realistically be converted or, alternatively, have a new plant (for biomethane production) added to them in a synergistic way,“ he said.

According to Výborný, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MPO) completed an important state aid notification for biomethane production with the European Commission several weeks ago. Biomethane is produced by purifying biogas. „That is excellent news for biogas plant operators, too. There are still some things we need to resolve, of course, but it is technically very straightforward to connect a biomethane unit to a biogas plant. And if you have access to a natural gas network connection, you can make very good use of what we are currently letting go to waste from biogas plants,“ Výborný said.

According to him, biomethane from biogas plants could help diversify natural gas sources for domestic consumption. „We know that, in an ideal scenario, we could cover up to 20 percent of natural gas consumption in Czechia with this source from biomethane plants,“ Výborný noted. The Ministry of Agriculture is discussing with the Ministry of Industry and Trade who will cover the costs of connecting a biomethane plant to the gas pipeline. „The operator will, of course, have to purchase the biomethane plant itself. The question is how to set the strategy for connecting it to the gas system,“ Výborný added.

According to figures released last year by the Modern Energy Union, around 1.2 million cubic metres of biomethane are produced in Czechia annually. Under the latest revision of the European Renewable Energy Directive, Czechia should be producing around 700 million cubic metres of biomethane a year by the end of the decade. Achieving these targets will require significant investment in new biomethane plants, according to the union.

The union says there are currently around 570 biogas plants in Czechia, 400 of them in agriculture. Czechia also has more than 100 municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plants that produce sewage gas, and around 70 facilities that produce landfill gas. Biogas is primarily used to generate electricity and, in some cases, heat. There are currently only a few plants that purify biogas into biomethane for possible injection into the gas network. The pilot project was the plant at EFG Rapotín BPS in the Šumperk region, which began supplying the network in 2019. It produces gas from sorted food waste, as well as heat and material that can be used as biofertiliser.