Decreto Bollette: the impacts on BPAs in the text approved by the Committee on Productive Activities

1. Introduction

On 20 February 2026, Decree-Law No. 21/2026 (“DL Bollette”) was approved and is currently in the process of being converted into law. The Government has called a vote of confidence in the Chamber of Deputies on the text, as approved by the Committee on Productive Activities, with the deadline for conversion into law set for 21 April 2026. The measure amends, inter alia, the provisions of Article 5-bis of Decree-Law No. 63 of 15 May 2024, converted with amendments by Law No. 163 of 12 July 2024 (“DL Agricoltura”), by setting out how biomethane producers and end customers may structure the contractual arrangements for the relevant volumes.

2. The Regulatory Framework: DM Biometano, DL Agricoltura and DM GO 

To better understand the scope of the amendment, it is useful to briefly review the regulatory developments concerning the incentive mechanism governed by the Decree of the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security of 15 September 2022 (“DM Biometano”), with particular reference to biomethane self-consumption.

As is well known, DM Biometano defined self-consumed biomethane as the volumes of biomethane produced and transmitted, via internal networks at the relevant site, to equipment for self-consumption in the context of production processes carried out by the same producer.

Subsequently, with the entry into force of DL Agricoltura and, in particular, the provisions of Article 5-bis, paragraph 2, the legislator – in order to promote the production of biomethane from agricultural biomass and increase its use in various production sectors that are difficult to decarbonise – introduced significant changes to the definition of self-consumed biomethane within the context of DM Biometano. Consequently, as of today, the term also covers biomethane produced by an agricultural plant at the disposal of the holder of the premium tariff incentives referred to in DM Biometano and transmitted via the third-party connection obligation network to an end customer operating in so-called ‘hard-to-abate’ industrial sectors (“Hard-to-Abate End Customers”).

For the purposes of this extension, pursuant to paragraph 2 of Article 5-bis of DL Agricoltura, the average monthly price of guarantees of origin (“GOs”) shall be zero.

3. Biomethane sale and purchase agreements for self-consumption: change in law referred to in Article 11, paragraph 2, of the DL Bollette

It is precisely on the framework defined by paragraph 2 of Article 5-bis of DL Agricoltura that the DL Bollette intervenes; as clarified in the technical report, it aims to prevent any form of circumvention by producers regarding the valorisation of the GOs.

In this regard, the DL Bollette adds a final sentence to paragraph 2, clarifying that the transfer, even indirect, of the value of the GOs to other cost items in the contract is not permitted, without prejudice to the recognition of fees for the operational management of the contract.

Furthermore, the legislative amendment also introduces the new paragraph 2-bis of Article 5-bis of DL Agricoltura, which, in order to ensure an adequate level of transparency, requires that individual cost items shall be specified in the sale and purchase agreements entered into pursuant to the preceding paragraph. For the same purposes, it is also provided that ARERA, upon the proposal of the GSE, shall make available standard contractual clauses which operators may use.

The subsequent paragraph 2-ter, also introduced by the DL Bollette, limits the scope of application of paragraph 2 of Article 5-bis of the DL Agricoltura. In particular, the provision stipulates that the self-consumption regime applies to sale and purchase agreements signed with Hard-to-Abate End Customers, up to a limit of 35% of such customers’ consumption.

Finally, paragraph 3 of Article 11 of the DL Bollette governs the effective date of the provisions referred to in paragraph 2 of said Article. In the version originally approved by the Council of Ministers, paragraph 3 provided that these provisions would apply to contracts signed from the date of entry into force of the decree. However, the version currently undergoing conversion has postponed this deadline, stipulating that the same provisions shall apply to contracts signed from the thirtieth day following the date of entry into force of the law converting the decree.

The rationale behind these amendments appears consistent with the original purpose of Article 5-bis of DL Agricoltura: to ensure that the GOs are effectively transferred to the end customer, whether or not they are a Hard-to-Abate End Customer, at a zero price, so that they may enjoy the same benefits that would have been granted to the producer in the event of direct self-consumption. The regulatory amendment therefore aims to counter the negotiating practices that emerged during the initial application of Article 5-bis of DL Agricoltura, whereby the economic value of the GOs was effectively shared between the producer and the Hard-to-Abate End Customer.

4. Concluding remarks 

Pending the conversion of the decree and the GSE’s operational rules, the amendments introduced by the decree introduce significant new elements that require careful consideration by industry operators.

Firstly, the introduction of a 35% threshold for the consumption of Hard-to-Abate End Customers as the maximum limit for the application of the self-consumption scheme referred to in the DL Agricoltura entails the need to adjust the volumes that can be contracted under each individual biomethane sale and purchase agreement. However, the provision does not clarify the practical modalities through which this limitation will be applied; it will therefore be necessary to await the publication of the new implementing rules for the DM Biometano in order to fully understand the scope of the change introduced by the DL Bollette.

Secondly, the prohibition on passing on, even indirectly, the value of the GOs to other cost items in the contract has a decisive impact on the pricing structure of biomethane sale and purchase agreements, thus requiring a careful identification of the legitimately recognisable cost components. To this end, the publication by ARERA, upon the proposal of the GSE, of standard contractual clauses, together with the monitoring role assigned to the GSE, will help to define the limits within which biomethane sale and purchase agreements may be considered compatible with the regulatory provisions.

In this context, the overall framework designed by the legislator undoubtedly poses significant challenges in terms of structuring biomethane sale and purchase agreements, with particular reference to the structure of the price agreed between the parties. Nevertheless, the DL Bollette itself appears to leave considerable scope for (i) a definition of the consideration that allows for adequate remuneration of the activities carried out by the producer – or the intermediary – within the context of self-consumption, whilst expressly reserving the right to recognise fees for the operational management of the sale and purchase agreement, and (ii) for the valuation of the biomethane covered by the sale and purchase agreement as a sustainable resource. 

The correct identification of these margins, particularly in view of the standard contractual clauses that ARERA will make available upon the GSE’s proposal, will undoubtedly be of central importance to operators in the sector.