ADBA Welcomes Government Response to Green Gas Support Scheme mid-scheme review

ADBA Welcomes Government Response to Green Gas Support Scheme mid-scheme review

The Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association (ADBA) welcomes the government’s full outcome published today on the Green Gas Support Scheme (GGSS) Mid-Scheme Review. As announced in October 2023, the scheme will be extended by 3 years to 31 March 2028, providing continuity for the sector.

“This is good news for the UK’s growing green gas industry,” said ADBA Chair Chris Huhne, welcoming the announcement. “The extension until 2028 gives investors and developers more long-term certainty to build new biogas plants. It also confirms other positive proposals we recommended in our consultation response last year.”

Aligning with ADBA recommendations during the Review, the outcome further endorses critical proposals including maintaining current tariff guarantees and commissioning deadlines, retaining the 50% waste feedstock threshold, and continuing requirements for responsible digestate management.

“Biogas can play a key role in decarbonising the hardest-to-decarbonise sectors in the country” added Huhne. “With the right policy support, biogas can provide more energy than nuclear in 2031. We can build hundreds of biogas plants on time and on budget in the time it takes to announce another delay to a nuclear power plant. Moreover, green gas is easy to store and so it is a better back-up to cheap solar and wind.”.

Today’s announcement brings positive steps on multiple fronts, yet the work is far from done. ADBA looks forward to continuing engagement with the government on optimising policies and regulations to sustainably grow the UK’s biomethane sector.

-ENDS –

For further information, contact:

Jocelyne Bia, Senior Communications Consultant

e: Jocelyne.bia@adbioresources.org ; t: +44 (0)20 3176 0592

Notes to editors

• Launched in November 2021, the Green Gas Support Scheme (GGSS) is a government environmental scheme that provides financial incentives for new anaerobic digestion biomethane plants to increase the proportion of green gas in the gas grid. It currently is the only support scheme ongoing for the biomethane plants.
• In its 2023 Mid-Scheme Review consultation, DESNZ proposed an extension of the scheme deadline to new applicants from the current November 2025 date to March 2026. In its response, ADBA asked for a minimum of 2-3 years extension as it would help plants prepare their applications with feedstock contracts, planning and permissions and other formalities.
• The Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association (ADBA) is the trade association for the UK anaerobic digestion (AD) and biogas industry. ADBA’s vision is to see the full potential of the UK AD industry realised so it can help the UK achieve its emissions targets and other policy goals, creating a truly circular economy. www.adbioresources.org
• Anaerobic Digestion (AD) is a ready-to-use technology which transforms organic wastes such as food and agricultural waste, sewage, manure, and slurries into biogas/biomethane, a biofertiliser called digestate, bio-CO₂ and other valuable bioresources for application in the energy, agriculture, and transport sectors. How AD works

  

• About the AD industry
  • There are currently 723 AD plants operational in the UK.
  • The entire industry digests approximately 46 million tonnes of organic material each year – organic material that would otherwise emit greenhouse gas if left untreated in landfill.
  • An estimated 19.9 TWh of biogas is produced each year by the AD industry – this green gas is either used to generate electricity and heat via a combined heat and power (CHP) unit or upgraded to biomethane and injected directly into the national gas grid. This is enough to heat 1.6 million UK homes.
  • The industry currently delivers 1% greenhouse gas savings in the UK every year.
  • An estimated 4,800 people are currently employed in the AD and biogas industry in the UK.
  • Fully deployed, by 2030, the UK AD and biogas industry expected to:
    • create 30,000 direct and 30,000 indirect jobs.
    • save the UK 27m t of CO₂ equivalent = taking 1/3rd of all cars off the road, by 2030.
    • heat 4.5-6.4 million UK homes with the 8 billion m³ of biomethane generated.