Develop customers and dependable revenue alongside production.
Customer agreements help a project define the output, quality, location and price it can finance. Gas, services, certificates and co-products need clear allocation and ownership. Shelby consultation response, Six measures for a coordinated gas industry (company position) Match the plant’s output profile with the customer’s operating hours, seasonal demand and delivery point before assuming all production earns revenue.
Specify the commercial service
Agree volume, delivery profile, quality, interruptions, price adjustments and contract term. State who owns the renewable or emissions attribute and which claims are permitted.
Build the supported case transparently
Shelby proposes testing around 15 years of revenue certainty for early deployment. This is a policy recommendation, not an existing general entitlement. Product revenues require their own customer terms.
Terms that matter in an offtake agreement
Beyond price, an offtake agreement should define volume and flexibility, quality specification, delivery point, contract length, indexation, ownership of environmental attributes and what happens when supply falls short. Clear treatment of certificates avoids two parties claiming the same emissions benefit. These terms determine whether a lender will rely on the contract.
Prepare an offtake term sheet before a full contract
Define product, quality, annual and peak quantity, delivery point, start date, term, price and indexation, minimum purchase, testing, metering, outages and remedies. Allocate certification, transport and change-in-law responsibilities. Where a customer needs reliability, explain backup supply and maintenance coordination. A non-binding expression of interest can support development, but should not be modelled as contracted revenue.
Frequently asked questions
Can certificates and gas revenue be added separately?
Only where the contract preserves separate attribute ownership and the same value is not already bundled in the gas price.
What should an offtake agreement specify?
Key terms include product specification, volume, delivery point and profile, price and indexation, term, take-or-pay or flexibility provisions, ownership of certificates and remedies for under-delivery. These terms determine whether revenue can support finance.
Who buys renewable gas and co-products in Australia?
Potential buyers include industrial heat users, gas retailers, transport fleets, food and beverage businesses needing CO₂, and agricultural users of fertiliser products. Demand must be confirmed through specifications and agreements.
Sources & References
- International Energy Agency (IEA), Outlook for Biogas and Biomethane
Publication: 2025-05-28
Observation period: 2025 report; modelled costs are not Australian supplier quotations
Relevant page / section: Key issues affecting biogas and biomethane projects
Last link / title verification: Not verified (check attempted 2026-10-11)
Verification incomplete, do not rely on this reference for an investment or approval decision.
Check scope and current applicability before relying on this reference.
- GreenPower, How the certification works in detail
Publication: Date not verified
Observation period: Not recorded
Relevant page / section: Claim-level locator not yet verified
Last link / title verification: 2026-10-11
Publisher link checked; individual claims, costs and regulatory applicability still require review.
Check scope and current applicability before relying on this reference.
- Environment Protection Authority Victoria, Safe production and use of digestate guidelines
Publication: 2024-01-29
Observation period: Environmental framework and digestate guidance
Relevant page / section: Victorian digestate production and use guidance
Last link / title verification: 2026-10-11
Publisher link checked; individual claims, costs and regulatory applicability still require review.
High for published guidance; check current instruments and project conditions
- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Chapter 12: Cross sectoral perspectives
Publication: 2022
Observation period: IPCC Sixth Assessment Report, Working Group III
Relevant page / section: Chapter 12, Cross-sectoral perspectives
Last link / title verification: 2026-10-11
Publisher link checked; individual claims, costs and regulatory applicability still require review.
Check scope and current applicability before relying on this reference.
- Shelby Bioenergy, Shelby’s National Renewable Gas Policy consultation response
Publication: 2026-10
Observation period: October 2026
Relevant page / section: Supplied company position
Last link / title verification: Not verified
Company position / supplied material, not independent evidence.
Proposals and scenarios, not adopted policy or market offers.