Key Benefits:
Public concerned: biomethane producers, natural gas suppliers.
Subject: conditions under which biomethane producers can benefit from a contract to purchase their production by natural gas suppliers.
Entry into force: the text comes into force on the day after its publication.
Notice: This Order sets out the conditions under which biomethane producers can benefit from a contract to purchase their production by natural gas suppliers and the main terms of this contract. A biomethane producer wishing to benefit from a purchase contract must make an application with the prefect, along with a record of which the parts list is specified in this decree. The prefect has two months to issue a certificate to the producer. Can benefit from a contract to purchase the methane facilities whose biogas or biomethane products have never been the subject of a purchase contract, nor have they been valued in the form of self-consumption. The contract is concluded for a period of fifteen years. Its entry into force is subject to the commissioning of the facility, which must take place within three years after the contract is signed. Ministers responsible for energy and the economy approve indicative models of procurement contracts after consultation with representative organizations of biomethane suppliers and producers and after advice from the Energy Regulatory Commission. The purchasing conditions, including tariffs, of injected biomethane are specified by the ministers responsible for the economy and energy. The biomethane producer must also enter into a connection contract and an injection contract with the network manager in which it is injected.
References: this decree is taken for the application of Article L. 446-2 of the Energy Code (from theArticle 92 of Act No. 2010-788 of 12 July 2010 bringing national commitment to the environment).
The Prime Minister,
On the report of the Minister of Ecology, Sustainable Development, Transport and Housing,
Considering the energy code, including articles L. 446-2 and L. 446-4;
Vu le Decree No. 2004-251 of 19 March 2004 relating to public service obligations in the gas sector;
Vu le Decree No. 2004-555 of 15 June 2004 the technical requirements for pipelines and connections of gas transport, distribution and storage facilities;
Vu le Decree No. 2011-1594 of 21 November 2011 relating to the conditions of sale of biomethane to natural gas suppliers;
Vu le Decree No. 2011-1596 of 21 November 2011 relative to the original guarantees of biomethane injected into natural gas networks;
Considering the opinion of the Higher Energy Council of 8 July 2011;
Considering the opinion of the Energy Regulatory Commission of 26 July 2011,
Decrete:
I. ― Any person seeking to benefit from the conditions of purchase of biomethane provided for inArticle 2 of Decree No. 2011-1594 of 21 November 2011 must send, with acknowledgement of receipt, to the prefect of the department in which the production site is located, a dated and signed request that includes:
1° If it is a natural person, his/her name(s) and domicile. If it is a legal entity, its name or social reason, the address of its head office, its registration in the register of trade and companies or equivalent, if any, the extract of the K bis register and its statutes and the quality of the signatory of the record;
2° The address of the biomethane production site subject to demand;
3° The production, storage and purification technique used;
4° The nature of the inputs used;
5° The maximum biomethane production capacity of the facility (in m3(n)/h) and the estimated annual average production (in kWh PCS) in normal operation;
6° The name and head office of the prospective buyer;
7° A network operator document specifying the technical feasibility conditions of connection and injection;
8° A certificate on the honour that biomethane produces will be appropriate to be injected into the network in accordance with the technical requirements of the applicable network manager referred to in Article 6.
The prefect shall, within two months of receipt of the complete record of the application, issue a certificate to the applicant entitled to purchase under the conditions provided for in the applicationArticle 2 of Decree No. 2011-1594 of 21 November 2011biomethane produced by its installation. The applicant may refuse to issue the certificate, in particular if the applicant considers that the applicant does not justify the conformity of its project with the regulations in force for biomethane production and injection in natural gas networks.
The certificate mentions the elements referred to in 1°, 2°, 3°, 4°, 5° and 7° of this article and the obligations of its holder. The certificate is notified to the applicant and the buyer. It is valid until the end of the document mentioned in the 7th of this article.
II. ― The above-mentioned attestation is nominative and incessant.
It can be transferred by prefectural decision. The certificate holder and the new petitioner shall apply to the prefect for the transfer of the certificate. This request includes, with respect to the new petitioner, an update of the elements mentioned in 1° and 8° of this article. After having obtained the transfer of a certificate, if requested by the buyer, the new producer shall be entitled to the terms and conditions of the existing contract for the remaining period of time; a contracting party is established.
Any modification relating to the elements mentioned in 3°, 4°, 5° or 7° of the I of this article shall be subject to an application to amend the certificate before it is made.
The prefect shall rule on such requests under the conditions set out in I of this article.
I. ― May benefit from the contract of purchase referred to in Article 4 an installation put into service, within the meaning of Article 3, for the first time after the date of publication of this decree and of which all or part of the principal elements necessary for the production, purification and storage of biogas or biomethane have never been used to produce biogas or biomethane for purposes of self-consumption
II. - Can also benefit from the contract of purchase referred to in Article 4 a facility put into service, within the meaning of Article III, up to the date of publication of this decree and of which all or part of the main elements necessary for the production, purification and storage of biogas or biomethane have never been used to produce biogas for self-consumption purposes or as part of the obligation of purchase of a contract.
In this case, the duration of the contract referred to in the preceding paragraph is reduced by the number of years, whether whole or in part, between the date of commissioning of the facility and the date of signature of the purchase contract.
Prior to the signing of the purchase contract referred to in Article 4, the producer identifies his installation with the Agence de l'environnement et de la maîtrise de l'énergie (ADEME) by the production of an identification file containing the elements mentioned in 1°, 2°, 3°, 4° and 5° of the I of Article 1st.
The Environment and Energy Control Agency delivers a receipt attesting to the receipt of the complete identification file within three months of its receipt. The signing of the contract of purchase shall take place, after the grant of the receipt, within three months. If no contract has been signed upon the expiry of this period, the receipt shall be deducted.
I. ― The relationship between the producer and the biomethane purchaser is the subject of a purchase contract that incorporates the conditions defined by the order referred to in Article 5 in force on the date of signature of the contract.
The certificate referred to in Article 1 and the receipt referred to in Article 3 shall be annexed to the contract of purchase.
The purchase contract specifies the main features of the site, especially those mentioned in the 2°, 3°, 4° and 5° of the I of the article 1st.
II. - The entry into force of the purchase contract is subject to the connection of the installation to the natural gas network under the conditions defined by the connection contract and the injection contract referred to in Article 6.
The network manager shall, at the request of the producer, issue an attestation specifying the date on which the connection to the natural gas network is in service. From the date of receipt, the producer has a two-month period to transmit the certificate to the buyer.
III. - The purchase contract is entered into at the producer's request, following the receipt of the certificate and the receipt referred to in Articles 1 and 3 respectively, for a period of fifteen years from the commission of the facility.
The date of commissioning of the facility is the date of commissioning its connection to the natural gas network.
This service must take place within three years from the date of signing of the purchase contract. In the event that this period exceeds, the duration of the purchase contract is reduced by the duration of the overtaking.
IV. - Ministers responsible for energy and the economy approve indicative models of biomethane purchase contract after consultation with representative organizations of natural gas suppliers within the meaning of articles L. 443-1 and following of the energy code and biomethane producers and after the advice of the Energy Control Board.
The purchase rates of biomethane, their conditions of application and the conditions of energy efficiency to be met by biomethane production facilities are decided by ministers responsible for energy and economy after the advice of the Higher Energy Council and the Energy Control Commission.
The purchase rate applicable to an installation is the purchase rate in effect at the time of the signature of the purchase contract referred to in section 4.
As of the date on which the Energy Regulatory Commission has been seized of a draft decree by ministers, it has a period of one month to render its opinion, a time limit that ministers may extend to two months upon request. This notice is deemed to be in favour of the expiry of this period, if extended. The opinion of the Energy Regulatory Commission, when expressed, is published in the Official Journal of the French Republic together with the decree.
This order specifies the purchase rates for biomethane and their application conditions.
Biomethane is injected according to conditions articles 8, 11 and 15 of the decree of 19 March 2004 referred to above, decree of 15 June 2004 referred to above as well as the provisions of the technical requirements of network managers and specifications, in accordance with the above-mentioned regulations.
Any biomethane production facility shall be equipped with a biomethane counting device injected into the network.
Are concluded between the biomethane producer and the network manager:
1° A connection contract that describes the connection conditions, including the financial conditions for the investment required to connect the producer to the natural gas network;
2° An injection contract that describes the conditions of injection in particular with respect to the safety, control and monitoring of biomethane quality. It also specifies the financial conditions for the services of the network manager concerning, on the one hand, the operation and maintenance of the injection facility, including the control of the quality of the gas and the determination of the injected quantities and, on the other, the operation of the network induced by the injection of biomethane.
The injected flow must be continuously adapted to the absorption capacity of the network. The producer provides for a removal system in the event of inadvertent flow or non-conformity of gas quality. The direct release of biomethane into the atmosphere by this removal system is prohibited.
The Minister responsible for energy shall, by order, designate buyers of last resort, if any by distribution zone and on the transport network.
In order to establish the list of last resort biomethane buyers, the Minister for Energy shall apply to each of the companies authorized to provide natural gas to domestic and non-domestic customers in accordance with sections L. 443-1 and following of the Energy Code. The application specifies the terms and the deadline for sending nominations.
Suppliers who respond to this call for applications are designated as last resort buyers by filing in support of their declaration the documents defined by decree of the Minister for Energy. The order also determines the form of publication of the list referred to in the second paragraph.
Within a period not exceeding two months from the deadline for submission of nominations, the Minister for Energy publishes the list of suppliers designated as last resort biomethane buyers. This list specifies, for each buyer, their contact information and the area(s) in which they must intervene.
This designation is valid for five years. The purchaser of last resort is required to conclude, within a maximum period fixed at the time of the appointment procedure of the purchaser of last resort, the purchase contract referred to in Article 4 with any producer installed in the area in question who makes the request or to replace the defaulting contractor of a producer installed in that area.
The Minister may, by a reasoned decision and after making his or her submissions, withdraw a supplier from the list referred to in the second paragraph, if the supplier is no longer in a position to purchase biomethane as a last resort or in the event of a breach of his or her obligations.
It may also make a new call for applications at any time to complete the same list.
The producer shall make available to the purchaser, the delegate responsible for the maintenance of the national register of guarantees of origin, the Energy Control Board and the Minister responsible for energy the information and evidence necessary to them under this decree and Decrees No. 2011-1594 of 21 November 2011 and No. 2011-1596 of 21 November 2011 Severe.
In order to determine the technical and economic performance of the industry, the producer shall transmit to the Minister responsible for Energy, at his request, the technical and financial elements necessary to assess the financial profitability of his biomethane production facility on the basis of the terms of the purchase contract referred to in section 4 of this decree that he has entered into.
I. ― Officials and agents designated by the Minister of Energy or the Minister responsible for the economy pursuant to section L. 142-21 of the Energy Code, the inspection officers designated by the gas distribution authorities and the control officers of the facilities classified for the protection of the environment are empowered to verify compliance with the regulation of the production and injection of biomethane in the environmental network.
II. - Where the modifications of the facility have the effect that it no longer complies with the conditions specified in this Order, the Prefect shall declare the validity of the attestation referred to in Article 1 after the re-establishment of the facility in its state of origin.
A copy of the prefect's decision is addressed to the relevant network manager and to the purchaser who entered into the purchase contract referred to in section 4.
The termination of the certificate shall result in the suspension of the contract of purchase referred to in section 4, and the termination of the contract after three years of suspension.
The Minister of Ecology, Sustainable Development, Transport and Housing, the Minister of Economy, Finance and Industry and the Minister to the Minister of Economy, Finance and Industry, responsible for the industry, energy and the digital economy, are responsible, each with respect to it, for the execution of this Order, which will be published in the Official Journal of the French Republic.
Done on November 21, 2011.
François Fillon
By the Prime Minister:
The Minister of Ecology,
Sustainable Development,
Transport and housing,
Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet
Minister of Economy,
finance and industry,
François Baroin
Minister to the Minister of Economy,
finance and industry,
responsible for the industry,
energy and the digital economy,
Eric Besson
