German Biogas Association Presents Current Industry Figures

At today’s press conference, the German Biogas Association presented its latest industry figures, which were collected for the first time in collaboration with the Fraunhofer Institute IEE. The data from the market master data register served as the basis and was combined with the ‘EEG movement data’ and evaluated, making it much more comprehensive and accurate than in previous years. According to this, at the end of 2025, there were a total of 9,315 biogas plants in Germany that generate electricity on site and 290 plants that process biogas into biomethane. This amounts to a total of 9,605 plants.

Increase in installed capacity

The on-site power generation plants have a combined installed electrical capacity of 6,816 megawatts (MW) with a rated capacity of 3,316 MW. The difference between the two figures (3,500 MW) represents the overcapacity or flexibility that is relevant for demand-oriented power generation.

It is striking that the installed electrical capacity of biogas plants has continued to develop very positively. ‘This trend shows that biogas plants are becoming increasingly flexible and thus playing an increasingly important role in the electricity grid, which is demanded both politically and socially,’ explains Thomas Karle, President of the German Biogas Association. A total of 29 terawatt hours (TWh) of biogas electricity was generated last year, which corresponds to the demand of 8.8 million households.

Heat generation – often overlooked

The amount of heat generated during electricity production in combined heat and power plants (CHP) was 32.3 TWh in 2025, of which 18.7 TWh was used outside the biogas plant, i.e. in homes, public facilities, industrial processes, etc., according to a survey of plant operators. This amount of heat corresponds to the annual demand of 1.4 million households. ‘This achievement is often overlooked in the current discussion about the potential of biogas,’ Karle regrets. ‘Every kilowatt hour of biogas heat potentially avoids one kilowatt hour of oil and reduces the demand for natural gas.’

Biogas processing is becoming increasingly important

The processing of biogas into biomethane is becoming significantly more important. At the end of 2025, there were 290 biomethane plants in Germany, which together generated 12.8 TWh. An increase to 14.5 TWh would be easily achievable. Together with the 3.5 TWh of biomethane currently imported, 16.3 TWh of biomethane could be used in the short term, which corresponds to 6.3% of natural gas consumption for residential buildings and would therefore be relevant for the ‘Biotreppe’ (bio staircase) or green gas quota of the ‘Building Modernisation Act’.

The total biogas plant park (on-site power generation + biogas processing) comprises 9,605 plants, which together generate over 80.6 TWh of energy. This corresponds to a good third of the total amount produced in Europe.

Economic significance

“However, we must be careful not to jeopardise this pioneering role recklessly,” warns Vice-President Christoph Spurk. It is difficult to understand why, in the past four years, almost all EU countries have developed a biogas and biomethane strategy to make their economies more sustainable and resilient, yet Germany, the technology leader, has completely rejected this European process. ‘This is damaging to our industry,” says Spurk, adding: “After all, we are talking about a total turnover of 8 billion euros – and even 9.6 billion euros if we include the growing foreign market.” 67,300 jobs, mainly in rural areas, are directly or indirectly linked to biogas use.

Association President Karle sums up: “With this new database, we can now quantify very precisely the contribution made by biogas plants. This potential must be used as sensibly as possible and expanded as much as possible.”

See More Detailed Graphs Here.