The Portuguese Council of Ministers Resolution Nr. 41/2024, of March 15, 2024, approved the Biomethane Action Plan (PAB 2024–2040). This Plan aims to promote and develop an integrated strategy for the market creation and further development of a sustainable biomethane market in Portugal, which nowadays, still not exist.
Framework
To promote the use of renewable gases in the energy transition period towards the economy decarbonization, with a special focus on industry and the transportation sector, while promoting circular economy and waste recovery, Portugal is implementing legislation to promote the production and consumption of sustainable biomethane, creating the necessary conditions for the development of a biomethane economy in Portugal. This legal reform included the adoption of the 2024-2040 biomethane action plan, aiming to establish a strategy for the development of this renewable gas in Portugal.
Vision
To promote the biomethane market as a sustainable form to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, decarbonize the Portuguese economy, reduce imports of natural gas used primarily in the industrial and domestic sectors, including its use in mobility, and fully utilize existing endogenous resources in various sectors of the national economy.
The five strategic biomass-based sectors for the creation of the biomethane market in Portugal are:
- Urban waste
- Wastewaters
- Livestock farming
- Agroindustry
- Agriculture and Forestry
The Plan focuses on the short-term conversion of existing biogas production plants to biomethane, as well as on investing in new biogas-to-biomethane plants in regions with higher waste production.
Objectives
The 2024-2040 Plan will propose measures to ensure a regulatory framework friendly to investment, along with a new set of public policies to support the immediate creation of an internal biomethane market, both on the supply (gas production) and on the demand (gas consumption) incentives.
General objectives:
Empower
Consolidate
Ensure
Goals
The potential for implementing biomethane from the anaerobic digestion of residual feedstocks from the five strategic sectors for the Action Plan, is expected to reach approximately 2.7 TWh in 2030, allowing the replacement of up to 9.1% of natural gas consumption forecast for the same year.
It is estimated that by 2040, anaerobic digestion will produce 3.1 TWh, and after the entrance in the market of new technologies such as gasification and power-to-methane, production can be scaled up to 5.6 TWh and achieve natural gas replacement values of up to 18.6% (an invariable estimate of consumption forecast for 2040 compared to 2030).
Phases
The Plan’s strategy includes two phases with distinct time frames: a first phase aimed at creating a biomethane market in Portugal, and a second, aimed at strengthening and consolidating the biomethane market in Portugal. Additionally, a complementary axis is also presented, which will be transversal to the use of biomethane at national level, aiming to ensure social and environmental sustainability.
- Phase 1: Creation of a biomethane market in Portugal;
- Phase 2: Strengthening and consolidating the biomethane market in Portugal;
- Transversal axis: Ensuring social and environmental sustainability.
Lines of action
The Biomehane Action Plan presents 20 lines of action aimed at preparing and enabling the use of biomethane in Portugal.
For 2024-2026, the Plan proposes measures to initiate the production and supply of renewable gas and develop the market through existing biogas production, primarily from urban wastes, but alsoinvesting in new production units within the framework of already approved first projects in the agricultural and agro-industrial sectors. The Plan of Action also considersan incentives framework for biomethane, clarifying licensing procedures, and studying and managing the integration of renewable gas into the regional grid. Most of these actions should be implemented by the end of 2026 and are considered a priority.
For 2026-2040, in addition to Phase 1, medium-term action lines are presented, focused on market consolidation and increasing the scale of biomethane production. These measures generally include strengthening the potential of the livestock sector (manure and slurry), strategic evaluation of innovative technologies and the valorization of wastes and gaseous streams associated with biomethane production, such as digestate and biogenic CO2, and the consequent creation of new value chains. Furthermore, increased funding for research, development, and innovation (R&D&I) in areas related to the use of this alternative and renewable gas.
Finally, the transversal axis focuses on the sustainability of the necessary actions for market growth and active participation of society in the development of the sector.
Phase 1 (starting in 2024)
Priority 1: To accelerate the development of biomethane production.
L1. Pursuing a support framework for biomethane production.
L2. Implement the selective collection of biowaste and enable urban waste management systems to maximize organic recovery through anaerobic digestion.
L3. Promote the conversion of existing biogas units to biomethane and accelerate the implementation of projects already approved and/or under development in the agricultural and agro-industrial sector.
L4. Establish goals for incorporating biomethane into the national gas network.
L5. Explore opportunities for biomethane in the transportation sector and encourage the use of biomethane in industry, particularly in industries covered by the Energy Intensive Consumption Management System.
L6. To carry out prospective studies for the strategic implementation of projects and assess the need for new connections to the current infrastructure for biomethane injection at a regional level.
Priority 2: To create an adequate regulatory framework.
- L7. Promote the injection of biomethane into the Portuguese gas grid.
- L8. Clarify the regulatory framework and streamline licensing processes.
Phase 2 (2026-2040)
Priority 3: To scale up biomethane production in Portugal.
- L9. Encourage wastewater management entities to utilize and maximize anaerobic sludge digestion.
- L10. Scale up the organic valorization of livestock and agro-industrial effluents in the biomethane production process.
- L11. Diversify the technological base for biomethane production beyond anaerobic digestion.
Priority 4: To develop and create regional value chains.
- L12. Promote the co-digestion of complementary raw materials, without compromising environmental benefits.
- L13. Encourage the creation of biomethane communities or virtual pipelines to produce biomethane and its injection into the gas network.
- L14. Encourage the creation of centralized collection solutions at a regional level associated with biomethane communities or virtual pipelines to ensure access to quality raw materials.
- L15. Implement a strategy for digestate as a fertilizer material to enable the growth of the biomethane market.
Priority 5: Strengthen and promote research and innovation.
- L16. Promote innovation in the value chain, including the valorization of digestate, valorization of CO2 resulting from the biogas purification process and the use of alternative biomethane production technologies in different sectors of activity.
- L17. Strengthen the strategic assessment for the implementation of biomethane production and the use of biogenic CO2 through innovative technologies identified as having high potential.
Transversal axis (2024-2040)
Priority 6: To ensure the sustainability of the biomethane value chain.
- L18. Ensuring a sustainable use of biomethane potential in Portugal.
Priority 7: Stimulate and strengthen synergies between the actors in the value chain.
- L19. Raise awareness and empower national industry to harness the potential of biomethane in key sectors of interest, through existing roadmaps, clusters, and systems.
- L20. Integrate civil society and regional and local public administration bodies in the development of the sector and promote the participatory involvement of all actors in the value chain.
Group of monitoring and coordination
The Monitoring and Coordination Group (GAC) of the Action Plan was created to monitor and coordinate the implementation of the Biomethane Action Plan, namely in what concerns:
- To promote the implementation of the action lines outlined in the plan, ensuring institutional coordination and monitoring its progress;
- Identify regulatory and economic-financial instruments to support biomethane production;
- Assess infrastructure needs, particularly connections to the gas transmission network for biomethane injection;
- Define specific targets, including the incorporation of biomethane into the public gas network;
- Assess opportunities for the use of biomethane in the transportation and industrial sectors, with a focus on industries included in the Energy-Intensive Consumption Management System.
- Propose measures and actions that contribute to the objectives of developing the biomethane market in Portugal.
The GAC is composed of representatives from the following institutions/offices:
Coordination: LNEG – Laboratório Nacional de Energia e Geologia, I. P. (National Laboratory for Energy and Geology)
Office of the Minister for Economy
Office of the Minister for Environment and Energy
Office of the Minister for Agriculture and Fishing
Office of the Secretary of State for Energy
Office of the Secretary of State for the Environment
Office of the Secretary of State for Agriculture
Office of the Secretary of State for Forests
DGEG – Direção-Geral de Energia e Geologia (Directorate-General for Energy and Geology)
ENSE – Entidade Nacional para o Setor Energético, E. P. E. (National Entity for the Energy Sector)
ADENE – Agência para a Energia (Agency for Energy)
APA – Agência Portuguesa do Ambiente, I. P. (Portuguese Environment Agency)
DGADR – Direção-Geral de Agricultura e Desenvolvimento Rural (Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development)
DGAV – Direção-Geral da Alimentação e Veterinária (Directorate-General for Food and Veterinary Medicine)
AICEP – Agência para o Investimento e Comércio Externo de Portugal (Portugal Trade & Invest)
AdP – Grupo Águas de Portugal (Águas de Portugal Group)
ICNF – Instituto da Conservação da Natureza e das Florestas (Institute for Nature Conservation and Forestry)
EGF – Environment Global Facilities
CIP – Confederação Empresarial de Portugal (Portuguese Business Confederation)
CAP – Confederação dos Agricultores de Portugal (Portuguese Farmers’ Confederation)
CONFAGRI – Confederação Nacional das Cooperativas Agrícolas e do Crédito Agrícola de Portugal (National Confederation of Agricultural Cooperatives and Agricultural Credit of Portugal)
ESGRA – Associação para a Gestão de Resíduos (Waste Management Association)
REN – Operador da rede de transporte de gás (Gas Transmission Network Operator)
Coligação C7 – Associações de defesa do ambiente (Environmental Protection Associations Coalition)
APPB – Associação Portuguesa de Produtores de Bioenergia (Portuguese Association of Bioenergy Producers)
ABA – Associação Bioenergia Avançada (Advanced Bioenergy Association)
