To access the News Reviews, subscribe to our Information Package free of charge here.
Foreword
Biomass plays an important role in the UK’s energy system, but concerns about sustainability and the level of subsidy biomass plants have received have led the UK Government tighten sustainability requirements and reduced financial support. Specifically, the minimum electricity export threshold was set at 100 MW for eligible generators, therefore excluding small-scale generators. Further, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has announced that subsidies for the power producer Drax will be halved between 2027 and 2031.
These concerns are not limited to the UK. South Korea has taken steps to disincentivise such projects by recently reforming the government support allocated for biomass energy, phasing down subsidies for most biomass categories. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Korea Forest Service, and Ministry of Environment's joint initiative, "Plans to Improve the Biomass Fuel and Power Market Structures", aims to address domestic and international criticism of biomass for its environmental impacts. The largest policy rollback of its kind in Asia, the reform aims to curtail the rapid growth of the biomass industry in the region. The revised REC scheme will end subsidies for new biomass facilities, state-owned power plants, privately-owned power plants, and domestic 'unused forest biomass' fuels...
Other News this Month Includes:
Policy
- Interministerial Group for Net Zero, Energy and Climate Change communiqué: 6 March 2025
- Bioenergy Europe backs clearer rules for green claims & carbon removals
- More...
Markets
- E3G: Clean Power 2030 is achievable without Drax biomass plant
- SSE to build power station in Ireland running on sustainable biofuels
- St1 Biokraft acquires Södra Hallands Kraft Biogas AB
Research & Development
- gigaCCS research centre opens in Norway to drive gigatonne-scale carbon capture
- S&T event challenges students to innovate carbon capture solutions
Biomass Heat and Power
- Haffner Energy successfully commissioned its hydrogen-from-biomass production unit in Marolles, France
- Indonesian forests put at risk by South Korean and Japanese biomass subsidies
- More...
Energy from Waste
- New Humber energy-from-waste plant gets government approval
- Sri Lanka’s first waste-to-energy power plant turns mountains of trash into clean electricity
- More...
Biogas
- Plans for future of Grangemouth
- Speaker interview: OrbeNovo expects its first subsidy-free biomethane plant to go live next year
- More...
Carbon Capture
- enfinium announces next phase of carbon capture technology programme, trialling next generation British technology and accelerating carbon capture in Wales
- Labour set deadline for Scottish carbon capture decision
- More...
Events
Capacity Statistics