Poland is one step closer to a major energy shift. The government has approved a draft law introducing an auction-based support system for biomethane production. According to estimates, the country could produce up to 8 billion cubic meters of this renewable gas each year, which would cover nearly 46 percent of the current demand for natural gas.
The new legislation, adopted by the Council of Ministers, amends the renewable energy sources act. It is designed to unlock the country’s vast but largely untapped biomethane potential. The auctions will be run by the President of the Energy Regulatory Office and will target installations with an electrical capacity above 1 MW.
Under the proposed rules, producers will be able to combine operational support with investment aid, in line with state aid regulations. The law also sets out the framework for dedicated gas pipelines to transport biogas, agricultural biogas, and biomethane. – This will increase the possibility of using these fuels beyond the place of their production – the Ministry of Climate and Environment announced in a statement.
Poland’s vast but dormant potential
Currently, Poland is a dwarf in the European biomethane market. Data from the Energy Regulatory Agency shows that as of March 2025, the country had only 416 biogas plants and just a single biomethane facility. Their total installed electrical capacity was 320 MW, generating roughly 1.6 TWh of electricity per year, which accounted for a mere 0.94 percent of domestic electricity output in 2024.
In contrast, Europe as a whole operates more than 20,000 biogas plants and about 1,600 biomethane plants. By the end of the first quarter of 2024, the EU’s technical production capacity for biomethane had already exceeded 6.4 billion cubic meters. To put it bluntly, this is over 9,800 times the Polish production level from 2025.
A competitive race for the future of energy
The National Energy and Climate Plan sets the domestic biomethane potential at 8 billion cubic meters. If fully realized, this would replace 8 out of the 17.4 billion cubic meters of gas consumed annually in Poland, dramatically reducing the country’s reliance on imports. Other estimates, including those from the Gas for Climate consortium, suggest the potential is even higher, making Poland the fifth-largest biomethane market in Europe, with a possible capacity of 13 billion cubic meters in the long-term perspective of 2050.
The question now is whether Poland will seize this opportunity. The draft law is a clear signal that the government intends to accelerate the development of the sector. However, building the necessary infrastructure, which includes not only production facilities but also the pipeline network, will require time, capital, and political will.
For Poland, the stakes are high. Reducing gas imports by half would strengthen the country’s energy security and reduce its exposure to volatile global markets. The new auction system could be the key to turning this theoretical potential into a tangible reality.
Źródło: wnp.pl, Fot. Shutterstock
