State Agency for Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving supports the Draft Law for biomethane development in Ukraine

02/10/2019

Prospects for biomethane production and consumption in Ukraine were reviewed on October 01 by the State Agency for Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving. Discussion participants: Head of the Agency Sergiy Savchuk, Head of the Bioenergy Association of Ukraine Georgii Geletukha, representatives of Ukrtransgaz, biogas producers and other experts in this field.

It is known that biomethane production in the EU countries is growing rapidly: from 80 million m³ in 2011 to about 2 billion m³ in 2017. As of 2018, there are already about 540 plants generating such fuel in the EU.

According to the European Biogas Association report, biomethane production will reach 18 billion m³ annually in 2030.

Biomethane generation potential in Ukraine is at least 7.8 billion m³ per year or 25% of current gas consumption (according to Naftogaz of Ukraine – Naftogaz in 2018, 32.3 billion m³ of gas were consumed in all categories).

During the meeting, there were analyzed different directions of biomethane application, based on European practice, in particular:

production of electricity during periods of maximum grid load;
biomethane as a motor fuel for manufacturers of agricultural products, public transport, trucks and cars;
gas substitution with biomethane;
export of biomethane to the EU.

There were also discussed possible mechanisms for the development of biomethane production in Ukraine.

In the EU there are different mechanisms for supporting biomethane production and consumption. For example, in France, a manufacturer has the right to sell biomethane to a gas supplier at a guaranteed price for 15 years. At the same time, biomethane consumers are exempt from the tax on gas and petroleum products consumption.

There were agreed by the meeting participants to elaborate on the most effective tools and necessary legislative changes for supporting the generation of biomethane and develop and submit a Draft Law to the Ministry of Energy and Environmental Protection.