Delayed project to build biomass heating plant in Novi Pazar expected to wrap up in 2019

The delayed EUR 3.6 million project to build a biomass heating plant in Novi Pazar as part of a wider plan for 10 district heating operators in Serbia to switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources is now expected to be completed in 2019, according to assistant mayor Faruk Suljević.

Suljević told Sto Plus, a local radio broadcaster, that he believes the local government will reach an agreement within a month to buy around 1.5 hectares of land belonging to bankrupt textile firm Raška, where the biomass heating plant is planned to be built.

“We will simultaneously work on producing a preliminary design plan and other documentation in order to obtain a construction permit by the end of the year. After that, we expect the Ministry of Mining and Energy and the Public Investment Management Office to launch a tendering procedure and select the contractor, which could start construction works in the spring of next year. The works should last five or six months,” Suljević said.

A study has shown that the biomass-fired plant could provide heating to some 170,000 new users in Novi Pazar, given that a large number of public institutions in the center of the town, newly-built residential properties, and industrial facilities are not yet connected to the district heating network, Suljević said, noting that all these potential new users will be offered an economically acceptable price of heating that will make it unnecessary for them to procure own heating boilers.

The wider project to build 10 biomass heating plants in Serbia is worth EUR 27 million, EUR 20 million of which is financed with a EUR 20 million loan from German development bank KfW, which is also providing a EUR 2 million grant, and a EUR 5 million grant from the government of Switzerland.

The municipalities in question include Mali Zvornik, Nova Varoš, Prijepolje, Bajina Bašta, Valjevo, Priboj, Kladovo, and Majdanpek.

KfW has offered the 2nd tranche of credit for an additional 15-20 district heating operators in Serbia to convert from fossil fuel to biomass. The Development of a Sustainable Bioenergy Market in Serbia program is implemented jointly by the German development organization GIZ and KfW.