Flexible bioenergy policies in different countries – Summary report
Task 44 publication on activity Work package 3 – Acceleration of flexible bioenergy concepts implementation
Flexible bioenergy policies in different countries – Summary report
The International Energy Agency (IEA) Bioenergy Task 44 provides a short but in depth overview on flexible bioenergy policies in different countries. This summary report consolidates the findings of two previously published reports, “Implementation of flexible bioenergy in different countries” (Thrän et al., 2024) and “Expectations on flexible bioenergy in different countries” (Thrän et al., 2025). It presents valuable insights for researchers, stakeholders and policy makers to support informed decision-making on flexible bioenergy in the coming years.
For a successful energy transition, flexible bioenergy is identified as a key contributor to energy security, particularly in supporting the transition from fossil-based to renewable energy systems. Countries emphasize its role in buffering uncertainties and maintaining electricity supply amidst increasing reliance on variable renewable energy (VRE). Flexible bioenergy is also expected as a key factor for decarbonizing hard-to-abate sectors, highlighting its importance for industrial heat, heavy transport, and the integration with carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies (Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage, BECCS).
The developments in flexible bioenergy implementation in 14 countries and the EU were analysed by circulating and evaluating a questionnaire to country specific bioenergy experts, who were contacted through the IEA bioenergy network. Insights in the ambitions concerning the energy system transformation and the possible contribution of flexible bioenergy to accelerate this transformation are provided. Expectations regarding national targets for flexible bioenergy and supporting policies and instruments, as well as potential synergies with national hydrogen strategies are identified.
The results show, that increasing efforts for flexible bioenergy production and/or the simultaneous production of electricity, heat, and fuels in the past three years are stated with adoption of strategies, investment support and also adjustment of energy legislation. Concerning flexible power provision, countries largely differ in their focus and approach, e.g. emphasizing day-to-day flexibility or seasonal flexibility, poly-generation, combination with excess energy, hydrogen and/or power-to-X.
Figure 4: Strongest needs for flexible bioenergy in respondent countries. Brazil not included. Figure 2 of Expectations report 2025.
Despite its potential, flexible bioenergy is still under various support mechanism and inconsistently addressed in national strategies, but this variety also offers the potential to learn from the wide range of experiences gathered in the studies. To unlock the potential of flexible bioenergy, policy should take coordinated action at both national and international level. This includes clarifying biomass potential, enhancing energy system modelling to better understand the need for flexibility in energy and material systems, determining how flexibility can be provided, developing supportive policies, and aligning technological advancements across sectors. In addition, policy strategies for flexible bioenergy should consider the link with green hydrogen strategies, which is evaluated in more and more energy scenarios to unlock the synergies from flexible biomass and green hydrogen.
The results are taken from the preceding Task 44 publications:
IEA Bioenergy Task 44_Implementation of flexible bioenergy in different countries
IEAB T44_Expectations on flexible bioenergy in different countries_1.2
