Biomethane is a mature and competitive technology that can help Greece in its energy transition, emphasized Dr. Alexandros Yfantis, President of the Hellenic Association of Biogas Producers, at the Renewable & Storage Forum.
As he mentioned, there is an interdependent pathway between hydrogen-biomethane. A positive development is that the Ministry of the Interior has declared that there will be a law on biomethane by January.
In Greece today, only biogas is produced and there is no co-production, so we are using it in the worst way, Mr. Yfantis estimates. In our country, 75 units operate with a total capacity of 115 megawatts.
The latest studies show that biomethane can replace 2/3 of the natural gas network in the long term. Also, the advantage is that green hydrogen green is easily converted to biomethane, as well as vice versa, so it is compatible with everything.
At the same time, the sector’s comparative advantage is that biogas is 100% European, so biomethane imports will not be needed. “We will take advantage of the huge network that already exists in Europe, emphasized Mr. Yfantis.
In Greece the two decisive issues are the legal framework and the raw material on the other. Biomethane is competitive as a technology and has no price problem today. On the contrary, Greece has a problem in gathering the raw material and for this reason the Ministry of Rural Development must be involved in offering solutions.
Mr. Yfantis mentioned that the problem is not the maturity of the technology, nor the price, but to build and get raw materials for the stations. It is indicative that only 50% of the 115 megawatts of installed capacity is utilized. “If they find raw material, these units will give much more”, he underlined.
