The European Biogas Association (EBA) has released the 15th edition of its Statistical Report, providing a detailed overview of biogas and biomethane markets across Europe. The latest 2024–2025 dataset stresses the sector’s growing role in Europe’s energy independence and decarbonisation goals, while warning that ongoing regulatory uncertainty is slowing progress at a critical time, reports Bioenergy Insight.
The report notes that EU-27 gas consumption stands at 332 bcm, with 273 bcm still imported — a gap that renewable, domestically produced gases could help reduce. At the same time, the EU’s dispatchable power generation capacity has fallen significantly, dropping from 424 GW in 2012 to roughly 380 GW in 2023, even as the demand for flexible power increases.
Biogases recorded modest growth in 2024, with total biogas and biomethane production reaching 22 bcm, up from 21.7 bcm in 2023. Of this, 19 bcm was produced within EU-27 countries. Current output equals the combined inland gas demand of Belgium, Denmark and Ireland, representing 6% of the EU’s natural gas consumption.
Biomethane remains the fastest-growing segment, reaching 5.2 bcm in 2024, including 4.3 bcm from EU-27 members. Europe now has an installed biomethane production capacity of 7 bcm per year as of early 2025. The continent ended 2024 with 1,620 biomethane plants — 111 more than the previous year — with at least 86% connected to the gas grid. Twenty-five European countries now produce biomethane, with Portugal entering in 2022, Lithuania and Ukraine in 2023, and Poland injecting biomethane into its grid for the first time in 2025.
Private investment commitments ahead of 2030 have reached €28.4 billion. The average biomethane facility in Europe has a capacity of 483 m³/h, nearly four times larger than biogas plants generating heat and power.
Production trends indicate a continued shift toward sustainable feedstocks such as agricultural residues, organic municipal waste, sewage sludge and industrial by-products — materials associated with the highest greenhouse gas savings. The sector also produced 25 million tonnes (dry matter) of digestate in 2024. Its established use as a soil enhancer and organic fertiliser is expanding, with new value-addition pathways emerging. Digestate already has the potential to replace 17% of the EU’s nitrogen fertilisers, and with projected industry growth, it could offset more than 65% of non-renewable nitrogen use by 2040.
The EBA stressed that unlocking this potential will require stronger alignment between EU institutions and national governments to ensure coherent and predictable policy frameworks. It said the proposed Biogas Tripartite Agreement is a key opportunity to bring greater stability to policy development and revive growth momentum in the renewable gas sector.
