BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 28. Global biomethane production increased by an estimated 16 percent (or 1 bcm) in 2022 to close to 7 bcm, Trend reports via the latest gas market overview from the International Energy Agency (IEA).
According to the report, this growth was mainly driven by the supply ramp-up in the EU and the US, together accounting for approximately 90 percent of incremental biomethane supply.
As the agency noted, the US remains the largest biomethane producer globally since 2019, with an output increasing 20 percent (close to 0.4 bcm) to 2 bcm in 2022. This account for almost 30 percent of global production volume.
Currently the US has over 250 operational biomethane facilities, with around 220 additional plants under construction or planned.
"Municipal solid waste remains the single largest source of feedstock, underpinning approximately 70 percent of total US biomethane production. Agricultural waste accounts for almost 20 percent of biomethane feedstock supply, while food waste and waste water account for the remaining 10 percent. Supply growth in 2022 was largely driven by biomethane facilities relying on agricultural waste as a feedstock. These plants alone accounted for over 55 percent of incremental biomethane supply in 2022, followed by facilities using municipal solid waste," the report added.
Meanwhile, the biomethane production in the EU grew by an estimated 15 percent (0.5 bcm) to close to 4 bcm in 2022, which was primarily driven by growth in supply in Denmark and France, together accounting for almost two-thirds of incremental biomethane production in Europe.
"In France biomethane output grew by an estimated 65 percent compared with 2021 to reach 0.65 bcm. This puts France as the second largest biomethane producer in Europe, behind Germany and surpassing Denmark. The number of biomethane facilities in France surged from 365 at the end of 2021 to 442 plants as of mid-2022. Agricultural waste accounts for around 80 percent of the feedstock supply used for biomethane production. In Denmark biomethane output grew by 15 percent compared with 2021 to reach over 0.6 bcm. The share of biomethane in total domestic gas consumption rose from 20 percent in 2021 to over 30 percent in 2022 – the highest share of any European country," the report noted.
At the same time, the agency added that European natural gas spot prices had an average premium of USD 11-24/MBtu above the typical cost range of biomethane production in 2022, and, thus, contributing to a lower natural gas import bill.