Wastewater treatment plant in Leskovac starts producing power from biogas

A wastewater treatment plant in Leskovac in the southern part of Serbia will cover half of its electricity consumption from its own production. The facility began the trial operation at the end of last year. Now it launched the production of electricity from biogas, obtained from sludge.

The trial operation of the water and sludge lines at the wastewater treatment plant has been completed, and gas generators for electricity production were put into trial operation.

Mayor of Leskovac Goran Cvetanović said that based on the biogas produced so far and the quality of wastewater, the gas generators should produce enough electricity to secure half of the facility’s daily consumption.

He stressed the production of electricity from alternative sources as very important in the energy crisis.

Over the nine months of operation, the facility produced 6,000 tons of sludge and 11,000 cubic meters of biogas

According to Maja Milošević Milojić, assistant director at water and sewage utility Vodovod, the parameters of treated water are in line with national regulations, and sludge was produced in the second process at the water line.

In the first nine months, the plant has produced about 6,000 tons of sludge and 11,000 cubic meters of biogas. The share of dry matter in the sludge is about 20%, she added.

Since it started operating, the facility has treated about four million cubic meters of wastewater or about 19,000 liters per day.

City to get another EUR 10 million for sewarage network

In addition to the central wastewater treatment plant, the wastewater management project of the City of Leskovac includes the construction of the main city collector and the expansion of the sewerage network in suburban areas (ORIO project).

The expansion of the sewer network in suburban areas will include the construction of an 80-kilometer network. It is financed with a donation of nearly EUR 8 million from the Government of the Netherlands.

The City of Leskovac announced that at the beginning of October, representatives of Dutch authorities and Serbia’s Ministry of Environmental Protection will sign the annex to the agreement for the implementation of the ORIO project. The move will secure an additional EUR 10 million for the sewerage network.

Of note, Serbia intends to invest several billion euros in wastewater treatment projects.