France extends biogas certificate obligations to 2044 while easing requirements for 2027–28

France has established a longer demand trajectory for biomethane financed through certificats de production de biogaz—CPBs. Decree No. 2026-933, signed on 30 September, published on 9 October and effective from 10 October 2026, extends the obligation through 2044, reduces the 2027–28 coefficients and admits additional production technologies.[01]

Established under the 2021 Climate and Resilience Law, CPBs require obligated gas suppliers to obtain certificates and surrender them to the state. Suppliers can generate certificates through their own eligible production or purchase them from other market participants. Producers sell the physical gas and the certificates separately, allowing certificate revenue to supplement the gas sale and help cover production costs.[02]

The supplier’s annual requirement is calculated as:

Covered gas supplied (MWh) × that year’s coefficient = CPBs required

For example, a supplier delivering 1 TWh—1 million MWh—of covered gas in 2028 incurs the following obligation:[03]

Adopted · 0.0355 CPB/MWh 35,500 CPBs

Previous · 0.0415 CPB/MWh 41,500 CPBs

That creates demand for certificates backed by eligible biomethane injection, even where the supplier purchases its physical gas separately.

CPB production operates outside the public-support contracts excluded by the Energy Code. Moreover, the same quantity of biomethane cannot generate both a CPB and a guarantee of origin. Producers therefore need to assess CPB revenues within the appropriate commercial route, without counting an additional GO sale against the same output.

The decree combines lower initial coefficients with a much longer obligation. The first compliance period now runs from 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2029. Five subsequent periods cover 2030–32, 2033–35, 2036–38, 2039–41 and 2042–44. Previously, the quantified trajectory stopped at 2028.[01]

Compliance periods2026–2044

2026–28

Not set

Decree No. 2026-933

012026–29

022030–32

032033–35

042036–38

052039–41

062042–44

Selected milestones show the scale of the change. The decree sets coefficients for every intervening year; certificate quantities are calculated at constant covered consumption.[03]

CPBs required per 1 TWh of covered gasThousands · select a year

{{ active.year }} · Adopted coefficient {{ active.coef }} CPB/MWh

CPBs per 1 TWh {{ active.cpbs }}

Previous coefficient {{ active.prev }}

Compliance period {{ active.period }}

Coefficients are CPB per MWh measured on a higher-heating-value basis, or PCS.

CRE’s opinion of 17 September 2026 examined the draft that preceded Decree No. 2026-933. It explained that proposed reductions for 2027–28 partly reflected higher forecasts of covered gas consumption. The adopted decree went further than the draft in both years.[04]

2027–28 coefficients: previous, CRE-reviewed draft, adoptedCPB/MWh

2027

0.0182 Draft

0.0175 Adopted

0.0162

2028

0.0415 Draft

0.0388 Adopted

0.0355

Suppliers still declare the preceding year’s covered volumes by 1 March, and certificates are surrendered through the annual cancellation process. Extending the first period moves its final reconciliation into 2030, giving suppliers another year to address early shortfalls. Separately, the decree permits unused certificate balances to pass into the first year of the next period, subject to certificate validity.[05][06]

Supply · eligible pathways[07]

Anaerobic digestionAlready covered

Qualifying landfill-gas recoveryAlready covered

Gasification, including supercritical aqueous-phase gasificationAdded

PyrolysisAdded

Where a process includes methanation to obtain biomethane, that stage must operate without external hydrogen input. This condition limits access for production configurations that rely on adding external hydrogen; existing registration, sustainability and other eligibility requirements continue to apply.

Demand · covered consumption[08]

The decree expressly includes specified supplies to cogeneration operators whose heat passes through another operator to serve heating or hot-water customers. Suppliers with these arrangements need to reassess their covered volumes.

This provision concerns the gas sales subject to the obligation; it is separate from eligibility rules for biogas plants converting from electricity production to biomethane injection.

A trajectory through 2044 gives suppliers a clearer reason to contract for future CPB production. Developers can use those purchase commitments to support financing applications.

Lower 2027–28 requirements reduce suppliers’ certificate needs for a given sales portfolio, potentially weakening prices or bargaining power for uncontracted production. The additional compliance year also gives suppliers more time to source certificates.

Gasification and pyrolysis developers gain access to a certificate revenue stream, potentially expanding the future supply available to obligated suppliers. Existing digestion projects will face additional competition if those pathways scale. The near-term effect is likely to be limited: CRE assessed the newer technologies as insufficiently mature to contribute substantial additional CPB supply immediately. [09]

At an illustrative certificate price of €50/CPB, certificate purchases would cost approximately €1.78 per MWh of covered gas in 2028 and €3.99/MWh in 2030, before other costs. Actual customer impacts will depend on procurement prices, contractual arrangements and competition between suppliers. [02]