EC approves EUR 4.5bn of aid for biomethane in Italy

The European Commission (EC) on Monday said it has granted approval under EU State aid rules to an Italian scheme with an overall budget of EUR 4.5 billion (USD 4.6bn) to encourage sustainable biomethane production.

The measure will support the construction and the operation of new or converted biomethane production plants that will feed the fuel into the national gas grid for use in the transport and heating sectors. With respect to transport use, only advanced biomethane will be supported.

There is a budget of EUR 1.7 billion to award investment grants to projects and an estimated budget of EUR 2.8 billion to pay incentive tariffs per MWh produced over a 15-year period. The tariffs will be determined in a competitive tender on a pay-as-bid principle, with a claw-back mechanism in case of high gas price increases.

The scheme will run until June 30, 2026 and the first call for projects will be launched this year. It will help Italy reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and is also in line with the goals of the REPowerEU Plan to reduce dependence on Russian fossil fuels.

(EUR 1 = USD 1.020)

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