Dutch parliament set to vote on key biomethane blending obligation amendments

The Dutch parliament is preparing to vote on a package of amendments to the proposed green gas blending obligation, including a one-year postponement of its start.

The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote Oct. 6 on 10 amendments proposed in September, including provisions that would mean the obligation would apply no earlier than Jan. 1, 2028.

A separate amendment seeks to cap the buy-out price — the compensation payment suppliers must make instead of acquiring green gas units (GGE) — at €0.45/GGE, equivalent to reductions of €450/metric ton of carbon dioxide equivalent. The ceiling would be nominal rather than automatically increasing through indexation, as in the current draft law submitted to parliament in May. Any increase would require further legislative amendments.

The proposed changes would also introduce stronger limits on the scheme's scale and cost by establishing a statutory upper limit on greenhouse gas emissions reductions. The proposed maximum would rise from 315,000 mtCO₂e reductions in 2027 to 955,000 mtCO₂e in 2030, then reach 1.425 million mtCO₂e annually from 2031 through 2035. The same ceiling would then continue from 2036 unless the Dutch Parliament approves an amendment. The government would retain the ability to set lower annual quantities.

The package would further require an annual government report to both chambers of parliament on the scheme's effects, and would bring forward the evaluation deadline from five years to three years. The evaluation would consider affordability, the development of the green gas market, the impact on Dutch gas consumption and the role of manure digestion in the agricultural transition.

Other amendments seek to strengthen parliamentary oversight. Draft regulations that determine the level of the blending obligation and the buyout price would have to be submitted to both chambers four weeks before adoption, except for the initial regulations.

Finally, one proposal from Sept. 25 seeks to restrict eligible green gas to gas produced at facilities in the Netherlands and injected into the Dutch gas transmission or distribution network. The proposal, which was brought forward by Andre Flach of the Reformed Political Party, seeks to support domestic green gas production.

But the government previously broadened eligibility to include green gas produced elsewhere in Europe, a move welcomed by the market. This came after the European Commission expressed concerns that prioritizing domestic Dutch production was contrary to Article 34 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU), which prohibits quantitative import restrictions across the bloc.

Platts, part of S&P Global Energy, assesses a wide range of biomethane Guarantees of Origin prices, including those for Dutch waste and manure, both subsidized and unsubsidized feedstocks.

Dutch spot certified, subsidized waste was last assessed at €30.95/MWh on Oct. 2, while certified, unsubsidized waste was assessed at €43.925/MWh.

Spot-certified, unsubsidized manure was assessed at €150.125/MWh on the same day, with demand coming from the Dutch ERE emissions-reduction scheme for land transport.