29 Serbian municipalities signed MoU to improve energy efficiency

Representatives of 29 municipalities in Serbia and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding aimed at improving energy efficiency and exploiting the potential of biomass for energy production in local communities.

The signed document is to provide assistance to local governments to develop energy efficiency programs, monitor energy consumption and savings, and provide information on possibilities of growing energy plants, said assistant to the Minister of Mining and Energy Miloš Banjac.

The public call has been published in August this year, because, according to Banjac, it was noticed that smaller municipalities do not have the potential to implement a program on rational energy consumption. On the other hand, researches showed that implementation of such programs could save up to 40% of energy.

The UNDP in Serbia invited applications for technical assistance and training for local authorities in introducing energy management systems and the use of biomass for power production, and said that one of the proejct’s goals was to use locally available raw materials to produce energy from biomass. Municipalities with population of 20,000 and 40,000 were invited to apply.

The following 29 municipalities were selected: Aleksandrovac, Alibunar, Apatin, Bačka Palanka, Bajina Bašta, Bečej, Crveni Krst (Niš), Čuprija, Gornji Milanovac, Inđija, Ivanjica, Kladovo, Knjaževac, Lebane, Lučani, Petrovac na Mlavi, Priboj, Raška, Savski Venac (Beograd), Senta, Svilajnac, Surdulica, Šid, Trstenik, Velika Plana, Veliko Gradište, Vladičin Han, Vlasotince i Vrnjačka Banja.

Deputy UNDP Resident Representative in Serbia Steliana Nedera said that the Ministry of Mining and Energy and UNDP jointly have been implementing two projects worth USD 45 million. Their mutual goal is to enable the introduction of energy management system and increase the share of biomass in energy production.