Ukraine may cover up to 20% of Europe’s biomethane market in future – expert’s opinion

The relevant statement was made by Bioenergy Association of Ukraine Board Chairman Georgii Geletukha during a briefing, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

“Ukraine has perfect conditions to repeat Germany’s path in terms of biomethane development [production – Ed.]. We have the largest agricultural land areas in Europe and, accordingly, a lot of raw materials, namely crop and livestock farming waste, which can be used for the production of biogas and biomethane. Ukraine has a very developed gas network, which can supply such methane. We are not far from Europe, so we can cover some of this premium biomethane market, for which Europe has set very ambitious goals. Accordingly, we could close 10-20% of this market with domestically produced biomethane,” Geletukha told.

In his words, Ukrainian businesses are monitoring these processes and are starting to build biomethane plants. In 2023, five plants are expected to start working, and they will be able to produce 20 million cubic meters of biomethane per year. But, in order to produce biomethane profitably, it is necessary for its cost to be around EUR 800-900 per thousand cubic meters.

According to Geletukha, the price of biomethane in the European market includes the cost of natural gas and a bonus. The bonus may be rather significant and reach EUR 1,000 per thousand cubic meters. However, if Ukrainian businesses fail to enter the European market, they will have to sell biomethane for EUR 450 per thousand in Ukraine. This will be unprofitable, and the plants planning to launch biomethane production are likely to give up on this idea under such conditions.

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