First they brewed beer, and now they have to find people who can drink it. This is a simple way to sum up what the European Union, and the Polish government supporting it, have cooked up for farmers, especially those growing potatoes. Since Poland joined the European Union, potato consumption in our country has fallen by 25%. Their price also “scrapes the price floor”. From 80 groszy per kilogram in the purchase price it fell to just 5 groszy. This makes potato farming unprofitable. And what if potatoes from Mercosur countries start flowing into Europe, which the EU agreed to? That could completely plunge potato producers. The government is trying to find a way out of this situation to allow the production of this vegetable to remain viable in the domestic market. The solution is to use it for biogas production.
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Potatoes as a response to the energy crisis?
The government will try to bake at least two pies on one fire. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development together with the Ministry of Energy are working on a solution. It is about using potatoes in energy production, specifically as feedstock for biogas production.
If this idea does not end up only in political promises, as it has in previous years, and actually starts to be implemented, then it could support potato producers who are already in a difficult situation, and what if potatoes from Mercosur countries start flowing into Poland. Then our market could be flooded with these vegetables, which could make domestic production unprofitable altogether.
We are talking with the industry about using potatoes as feedstock for biogas production” – admitted on RMF FM Stefan Krajewski, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Will there be more biogas plants in Poland?
The ruling government is looking for a way out of the deadlock, but it is unclear whether their efforts will end in failure. It all depends on how farmers, who have not been very eager to set up biogas plants so far, will approach the idea. According to information from the National Agricultural Support Centre, at the beginning of March 2026 there were 170 agricultural biogas producers in Poland, operating a total of 204 installations.
“The installed electric capacity of all agricultural biogas installations is currently 184.3 MW. This capacity is used to generate electricity in biogas plants. The annual output of biogas-producing installations exceeds 802 million cubic meters” – reports the Globenergia.pl portal.
The potential for agricultural biogas production in our country is expected to be much larger. Minister of Agriculture Stefan Krajewski told the Biomasa magazine that it is over 8 billion cubic meters. The head of the ministry added that biogas plants are a much more stable source of energy than, for example, renewable energy installations that depend on sun and wind. Biogas plants can operate for about 8,000 hours, so nearly 90% of the time.
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