Renewable Gas: a credible solution for energy independence, resilience, and Decarbonization

44 TWh by 2030: a confirmed goal, provided the necessary resources are secured

Complementary to other renewable energy sources, Renewable Gases and low-carbon gases play a key role in the decarbonization of the French Energy Mix. The new Multi-Year Energy Plan (PPE 3) sets a target of 44 TWh of biomethane injected into the grids by 2030 and up to 82 TWh by 2035. This milestone confirms France’s ability to develop a local, low-carbon, storable, and controllable energy source that supports Energy Sovereignty and the resilience of the energy system. However, the sector must be given the means to stay on this trajectory. Behind these stated goals, projects cannot materialize without sufficient economic and regulatory clarity to attract investment, secure financing, and enable project developers to move forward.

In 2025, Anaerobic Digestion confirms its scaling up

Anaerobic Digestion is now the main driver of Renewable Gas development. It recycles organic waste, supports agricultural activity, and produces Biomethane, Digestate, and Biogenic CO₂, all of which are byproducts useful for Decarbonization. By 2025, the momentum behind Biomethane Injection has strengthened further, with 72 new sites undergoing commissioning, bringing the total number of facilities connected to Gas Networks to 803. The installed capacity of the operational facilities reached 15.6 TWh per year, with production totaling 13.6 TWh in 2025—representing 3.9% of France’s gas consumption. Added to this baseline are 19.2 TWh in the pipeline, bringing the total registered capacity to 34.7 TWh/year.

CPB: Without Long-Term Visibility, Investment Momentum Will Be Stalled

The implementation of CPBs on January 1, 2026, is a step forward, but a timeframe limited to 2026–2028 does not allow for the financing of projects with payback periods exceeding ten years. The lack of visibility beyond 2028 is already stalling investments. Since the feed-in tariff was refocused in late 2020 on facilities producing less than 25 GWh/year, larger projects no longer have a sustainable financing solution outside of CPBs. New projects are ready to move forward, while nearly 100 Cogeneration facilities could switch to Biomethane Injection ahead of schedule, representing more than 200 million euros in investment in local communities. Other facilities, whose contracts are nearing expiration, must also be given a clear outlook. In the absence of an appropriate framework, all of these projects remain frozen, postponed, or at risk today. Under these circumstances, continuing to delay the publication of the post-2028 CPB trajectory—even as the volume eligible for the feed-in tariff remains capped at 800 GWh/year and other complementary measures, such as the Incentive for Reducing the Carbon Intensity of Fuels (IRICC), are not yet fully operational, amounts to risking the disruption of an industrial, agricultural, and regional momentum that is ready to scale up. The sector is therefore calling for the publication, before mid-July 2026, of a decree establishing a clear and credible CPB trajectory through 2035.

New technologies ready to reach an industrial milestone

Beyond Anaerobic Digestion, Pyrogasification, Hydrothermal Gasification, and Power-to-Methane are already expanding the scope of Renewable Gases and low-carbon gases by harnessing complementary resources and diversifying production pathways. This expansion also requires anticipating the role of Renewable Hydrogen in tomorrow’s energy system. Already in the demonstration or deployment phases, these solutions must now be supported to reach industrial scale and fully contribute to France’s energy and climate goals. The commissioning in 2025 of Denobio—France’s first “power-to-methane” facility to inject methane into the Gas Network—illustrates this ramp-up and the growing synergy between renewable electricity, Renewable Hydrogen, Biogenic CO₂, and gas infrastructure. Scaling up biogenic CO₂ will also require better organization of its flows—an essential condition for effectively connecting production sites to industrial uses and, ultimately, to sequestration solutions. 

Gas infrastructure supporting rapid and concrete Decarbonization

Renewable Gas and low-carbon gases offer a decisive advantage: they can be injected into existing infrastructure, with manageable investments, to meet all applications: heating, industry, and mobility. With the expansion of network interconnections and refueling stations at the interface between transmission and distribution networks, France’s gas network is capable of receiving, transporting, and storing Biomethane produced locally and continuously throughout the country. In this sense, Biomethane serves as a concrete lever for flexibility and immediate Decarbonization. Every consumer can already sign up for a Biomethane plan with their supplier and reduce the Carbon Footprint of their consumption without modifying their existing system.