EnviTec Biogas has warned that a proposed amendment to Germany's Energy Industry Act (EnWG) would effectively halt the development of new biomethane projects, contradicting both the government's own green gas ambitions and the European Gas Directive the legislation is intended to implement.
The cabinet draft, adopted on 28 March, transposes the EU Gas Directive into German national law. But Jörg Fischer, CFO of EnviTec Biogas AG, said the current text would allow grid operators to disconnect new biomethane plants from the gas grid after as little as ten years, which is far too short a period to recoup investment costs.
"This effectively stifles all ambitions to systematically promote domestic green gas potential at an early stage. Investments become impossible under such conditions," Fischer said.
The criticism comes shortly after the federal government announced plans to introduce a green gas quota to offset the removal of the 65% renewable heating requirement under the Building Energy Act (GEG). Fischer described the juxtaposition as "almost absurd", arguing the draft EnWG undermines the very incentives the quota is intended to create.
EnviTec did acknowledge one positive element in the draft: extended investment protection for existing biomethane plants, with the period during which grid operators may limit connections raised to 20 years. However, the company argued the same protection must apply to new plants if the sector is to attract meaningful investment.
Fischer said the draft appeared to prioritise cost minimisation for gas grid operators at the expense of their broader role in enabling the energy transition. "Only an ambitious EnWG aligned with European law and offering long-term perspectives for both existing and new plants can create the conditions for a resilient, climate-neutral energy system in Germany — and consequently in Europe," he said.
EnviTec Biogas and industry body Biogasrat+ have called for three specific changes to the draft: binding political objectives for renewable gas expansion to be embedded in grid development planning; full retention of existing Gas Network Access Ordinance (GasNZV) provisions, including priority grid access, the cost-sharing mechanism and guaranteed feed-in availability; and a prohibition on disconnecting renewable gas plants from the grid before 20 years of operation, and only then where permanent network decommissioning is in the public interest.
EnviTec Biogas warns German energy law overhaul threatens biomethane expansion
