Poland approves biometane auctions to boost biogas output as Kraków replaces coal with gas-fired plant

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5 days · 4 summary articles
Poland’s Senate on Thursday approved a legal amendment introducing an auction-based support system for biometane producers, aiming to unlock the country’s untapped potential in biogas and biometane production. The new mechanism, overseen by the president of the Energy Regulatory Office, will also allow operational support to be combined with investment aid under public funding rules, according to the Climate and Environment Ministry .
The move comes as Poland seeks to reduce reliance on gas imports. Data from the Polish Economic Institute and the Energy Regulatory Office, cited in 2025, showed Poland had only 416 biogas and biometane plants—415 biogazownias and one biometanownia—with a combined installed capacity of 320 MW and annual electricity output of nearly 1.6 TWh, or 0.94% of the national total. The EU, by comparison, had over 20,000 biogas plants and around 1,600 biometane facilities by early 2024, with technical biometane production capacity exceeding 6.4 billion cubic meters.
Meanwhile, state-owned PGE Energia Ciepła broke ground on a 866 million złoty ($200 million) project to build a gas-fired cogeneration system at Kraków’s Electrociepłownia, replacing coal with 10 gas engines totaling 100 MWe and 100 MWt capacity. The plant, slated for completion in 2028, will cut coal use by 200,000 tons annually and cover roughly 20% of the city’s district heating demand, the company said . The full coal phase-out at the site will cost over 2.9 billion złoty, with Polish firms Unibep and SBB Energy leading construction.
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