White paper shows why the conversion of biogas into electricity must be reassessed in the upcoming national biomass strategy

In a white paper published together with the Berlin-based consulting agency DWR eco, Energy2market makes it clear that on-site biogas generation is currently the only reliable climate-neutral flexibility option for the electricity system of the future. The development of hydrogen power plants currently favored by the German government as part of the power plant strategy is associated with a number of uncertainties and restrictions.

According to the German government’s response to a parliamentary question from the CDU/CSU, the planned tender for around 24 GW of hydrogen-based back-up capacity is facing further delays. According to the German government’s plans, an estimated 50 TWh (1.5 million tons) of green or blue hydrogen will be required by 2035, which is almost equivalent to Germany’s entire current hydrogen consumption. Not least due to the lack of investment signals from a power plant strategy and a new electricity market design, Energy2market therefore calculates in its white paper that the flexibility gap of an estimated 50 GW can neither be closed in time nor sufficiently without exploiting the possibilities of flexible biogas power generation.

The paper underlines the growing importance of demand-driven power generation from biogas for a secure electricity system of the future. Kurt Kretschmer, Head of Energy Policy at Energy2market, commented on the results of the white paper as follows: “Biogas is an important anchor of flexibility in the German electricity system and a central component for a climate-neutral electricity system by 2035. While actually usable flexibility from heat pumps, electromobility or hydrogen electrolysis for the electricity system only exists on paper so far, sustainable biogas and the associated plant fleet are already available on a large scale today. Energy2market is therefore calling for the role of controllable biogas capacities to be given greater recognition in current strategy processes such as the National Biomass Strategy (NABIS) and the Power Plant Strategy.”

Kretschmer also believes that the efficiency and innovation potential of biogas production has not been properly understood: “In future, biogas can be converted into electricity much more resource-efficiently on the basis of residual materials and with the help of technological innovations and a more system-friendly operation. This means that biogas production will not lead to conflicts of use with other biomass utilization paths, as is often claimed.”

Kretschmer is therefore calling for a clear rethink in the German government, particularly in view of the NABIS, which is expected to be published this year: “Sustainable biogas power generation that serves the system must be differentiated from other forms of energy recovery such as biofuel production and must be classified as indispensable in terms of energy and climate policy goals. The blanket discrimination against energy recovery compared to material recovery announced by the German government must be urgently corrected.”

Otherwise, as the paper makes clear, the biogas industry will be deprived of access to biomass and thus the basis of its business. One of the few predictable pillars of flexibility in the German electricity system, as well as an important source of income for agricultural businesses, would be in danger of disappearing.

As an impulse for the upcoming NABIS process, Energy2market has derived a biomass use hierarchy (“biomass traffic light”) in its white paper. The concept evaluates the systemic benefits of various biomass applications and is intended to ensure a targeted allocation of biogenic resources.