Subsidy II (biomethane market development support)

Act on Biomethane Market support

The purpose of the subsidy scheme is to contribute to boosting the consumption and production of biomethane and to support activities that contribute to the goal of 10% of energy from renewable sources in transport fuels by 2020. Support will be given to biomethane producers. The scheme is available from January 2018 and is continuous. The scheme is applicable until the end of 2023 or until the depletion of the budget funds allocated.
The following activities are be supported under the scheme: (1) cost of production of certified biomethane delivered to final consumer as transport fuel per megawatt hour; (2) cost of production of certified biomethane delivered to the final user in the gas system referred to in the Natural Gas Act, per megawatt-hour (Art 6 Act on Biomethane Market Support).

For biomethane delivered to the final consumer as transport fuel, the amount of the subsidy is EUR100 per megawatt-hour, from which the average market price of natural gas of the current month will be deducted. For biomethane delivered to the final consumer in the gas system, the amount of the subsidy is EUR 93 per megawatt-hour, from which the average market price of natural gas of the current month will be deducted (Art 8, Act on Biomethane Market Support).

Biomethane producers whose installation’s capacity does not exceed 50 000 tonnes per year. A legal person from the European Economic Area or the Swiss Confederation may also apply for support under this measure, if the law of the country of his residence allows a legal entity in Estonia to participate in a similar scheme in that country (Art 9, Act on Biomethane Market Support).

A biomethane producer wanting to benefit from the subsidy has to register itself as an applicant on the website of the Ministry or System Administrator of the gas system (TSO Elering). The registrations will be reviewed in the order they were received. Information about the receipt of payment applications and the funding budget is provided on the website of the Ministry or System Administrator at least 30 calendar days before the opening of the call for applications. Payment applications are processed in the order in which they are received. The Ministry or System Administrator will make a payment to the beneficiary’s account by the 21st day of the month immediately following the submission of the application for payment. Payment applications can be submitted on a rolling basis until 31 December 2023 or until the end of budgetary resources (Art 10, 13, 25, 18, Act on Biomethane Market Support).

• MKM
• TSO Elering