French Subsidy for Landfill Gas Approved

France has been cleared to make grants towards the development of 60 MW of electricity generated from landfill gas.

The European Commission said July 20 it has approved, under EU state aid rules, the subsidies that France plans to pay to such power plants, and for modernising plants of this type already in operation.

Support will be in the form of a market price premium for plants with an installed capacity of 0.5 MW or more, and a purchase price for smaller installations. As landfill gas is considered a renewable energy source, the support scheme will also help France to increase the share of electricity produced from renewables, in line with the EU's environmental objectives.

Whereas France is banning new exploration licences for coalbed methane (CBM), the development of firedamp (coal mine methane) for use in power is being supported by French government feed-in tariffs, on the grounds that it harnesses methane that might otherwise leak into the atmosphere. A French independent, La Francaise de l’Energie is continuing tests to monetise firedamp from abandoned coal mines in the north and northeast of France, for use in power generation, and said July 10 it is extending such tests to a nearby site in Belgium.