Biomethane, Lombardy first for projects

Lombardy land of biomethane. The region ranks first in Italy in terms of the number of projects in the rankings of the five auctions, held from 2023 to this year, organised by the GSE to allocate the Pnrr funds earmarked for the development of this technology. Scrolling through the lists of those admitted to the 40% non-repayable subsidy and the incentive tariff, published over the months by the Gse itself (without counting any subsequent waivers, although there have been some), Lombardy is by far in the lead with 192 selected projects, almost half (91) of which are in the last auction, the fifth, the result of which was announced in mid-April. Emilia-Romagna follows with 86 plants, Veneto with 78, Campania with 55, Piedmont with 53, Lazio and Puglia with 44 each, Friuli-Venezia Giulia with 33, Sicily with 26, and Tuscany with 23.

The initiatives in the other regions are smaller: there are 18 projects on paper in Basilicata, 11 in Abruzzo, 6 in Marche, 3 in Sardinia and 2 in Trentino-Alto Adige, Molise, Umbria and Calabria respectively. These are all numbers that include reconversions and new plants, agricultural and Forsu (organic fraction of solid urban waste) production projects.

Biomethane is the fuel obtained from the purification of biogas which, following chemical-physical purification treatments, even carried out at a different location from the production site, is suitable for the subsequent compression phase for injection into the natural gas network. The biogas from which it is obtained is in turn produced by the fermentation in the absence of oxygen of organic matrices, traditionally animal dejections or waste from agricultural production or the wet waste from sorted waste. Another product of the anaerobic digestion process is digestate, a compound that can be used as fertiliser back into the fields.

The projects are largely still to be built, the first biomethane production plant incentivised with NRP funds was inaugurated on 30 November at the Società Agricola Bagnod in Piverone (Turin): it had participated in the first auction. A number of other new plants have since become operational. All the others, for which construction has been decided, will have to come into operation by 30 June 2026, the deadline set by the NRP.

This deadline imposes great pressure for implementation to take place on time, otherwise the incentive will be lost. Almost half of the projects (298 out of a total of 680, again net of renouncements) are included in the last auction, so it can be seen how tight the timeframe is. "We have found it difficult to get all the initiatives on the ground: it is difficult for them to be put into operation in a year," emphasises Christian Curlisi, director of Consorzio Italiano Biogas (Cib): "Now the Eurocamera has asked for an extension of 18 months for the NRP projects: it is a need that comes from several sectors. Regardless of this, we believe that the conditions are in place to give end-of-work definitions that allow the works to be closed and the initiatives to be reported. That they take into account the issue of grid connections for example: there is no certainty that the distributor will be able to connect the installations, but if this does not happen in time, the entrepreneur risks not being able to access the contribution. In a context where the biomethane production targets that the Pniec gives for 2030 are challenging: if we want to increase production, we need a decree on the path after 2026. We cannot afford uncertainty that blocks planning and industry'.