On 1 October 2017, it became possible to transfer biomethane certificates from Denmark to Germany. At this time, Energinet entered into an agreement with the owners of the German certificate register Deutsche Energie-Agentur (DENA), and Energinet received the first requests for transfers already a few days later.

A future independent of fossil fuels must be based on different types of renewable energy. Biomethane, which is biogas upgraded to natural gas quality and injected into the gas grid, is an important source of renewable energy. Energinet is therefore pleased that the Danish biogas producers now have the opportunity to sell their certificates to German customers:

- The agreement with the German certificate register DENA lays the foundation for reliable and transparent cross-border trade in biomethane certificates. This creates better framework conditions for the green gas market and paves the way for trade in an increasingly integrated European market via the gas grid, says Jeppe Danø, Director of Gas System Operator in Energinet’s TSO Gas.

Energinet is responsible for issuing biomethane certificates in Denmark. The Group issues one biomethane certificate per MWh biogas injected into the gas system to document the green value of the biogas.

Green biogas certificates for approx. 10,000 new gas-powered vehicles

The Nature Energy group has started selling the green gas certificates to customers on the German side of the border. On 13 June 2017, Nature Energy entered into an agreement with the German car manufacturer Audi on the delivery of green biogas certificates for approx. 10,000 gas-powered vehicles.

Jonas C. Svendsen, Head of Trading at NGF Nature Energy, is seeing a rising demand for biomethane certificates:

- Particularly the transport sector and the heating sector are demanding the green gas certificates. The purchasers use the certificates to document the green value of, for example, biogas products in the heating sector, the heating of municipal buildings or corporate social responsibility in connection with the sale of cars.

This was stated at Energinet’s Green Gas Forum, which was held on Tuesday 31 October 2017. At the forum, under the heading ‘Danish biogas can compete in Europe’, Jonas C. Svendsen described Nature Energy’s views on the perspectives for Danish biogas.

Growing market for biomethane certificates

In the first eight months of 2017, Energinet has issued the same number of biomethane certificates as the Group issued all of last year. Last year, Energinet issued a total of 960,000 certificates.

- We topped one million certificates already in connection with the issue of certificates for August, which means we’ve issued certificates corresponding to more than 1,000 GWh of biomethane having been injected into the gas grid, says Dorte G. Kristiansen, who works with the documentation of biomethane certificates at Energinet.

- The expectation is also for more biogas plants to be connected to the grid in the last six months of 2017, so the development in certificates issued may increase further. This means that the market is starting to look abroad to sell the certificates.

At this time in 2017, approximately half (48%) of the Danish biomethane certificates have been sold in Sweden, 38% in Denmark and 14% in Germany.