The European Commission has approved a €3.7 billion Czech state aid scheme to support building and converting plants that produce biomethane, a renewable gas.
The scheme supports new biomethane production capacity at newly built stations and at existing biogas stations converted to produce biomethane, and will run until 31 December 2030, the Commission informed on Tuesday.
Support will be available to biomethane producers holding a gas production licence in Czechia, with projects required to meet sustainability rules under the EU Renewable Energy Directive.
The measure is expected to benefit mostly small and medium-sized farms.
The aid will be provided through a direct price support system using a “two-way contract for difference” — a mechanism that pays producers when natural gas prices fall below an agreed “strike price” and requires repayments when prices rise above it — for 15 years per project.
Beneficiaries will be selected through competitive tenders.
Output target and Commission decision
The scheme is expected to support installations with a total output of 350 million standard cubic metres of sustainable biomethane, the Commission said.
Approval was granted under EU state aid rules and the Clean Industrial Deal State Aid Framework, adopted on 25 June 2025.
Teresa Ribera, the Commission’s Executive Vice-President for Clean, Just and Competitive Transition, said the scheme would support production of sustainable biomethane for transport and heating in the EU.
