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District heating utility Termokos is seeking a contractor to build a 30 MW solar thermal facility outside Prishtina in Kosovo*. The estimated time for completion is 30 months plus a six-month commissioning phase.
After several years of preparation, Kosovo* is moving ahead with the largest solar thermal project for district heating in the Western Balkans. The operator, Termokos, is owned by the Municipality of Prishtina, the capital city. They secured most of the funds for Solar4Kosovo 2 – Solar District Heating through the European Union’s Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF), Germany’s KfW Development Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
The entire project is estimated at EUR 81.7 million, of which Termokos is providing EUR 4.4 million. EBRD approved a loan of up to EUR 23.2 million more than two years ago while KfW lended EUR 31.6 million. The remaining EUR 22.5 million is a grant via WBIF.
Termokos is receiving applications until the end of this month from potential contractors, for the first lot. It envisages the construction of a 30 MW solar thermal plant near the village of Shkabaj (Orlović). The facility in Obiliq (Obilić) municipality is for the district heating system in Prishtina.
The prequalification call comprises a seasonal water pit thermal energy storage, a solar thermal collector field, a heating plant with an absorption heat pump driven by combined heat and power (CHP), pumps and a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system.
Heat pump takes over when temperature in water pit is lower than in network return
The solar thermal collector field would feed thermal energy into the pit during the non-heating period. With the beginning of the heating season, the solar heat is then fed into the network if the temperature in the pit is higher than the return temperature in the network. When the temperature in storage falls below the threshold, the heat pump takes over.
The project is carried out in accordance with the conditions of contract for plant and design build – FIDIC Yellow Book of the International Federation of Consulting Engineers. The estimated time for completion is 30 months plus a six-month commissioning phase.
The other part of the Solar4Kosovo 2 – Solar District Heating project is for a network extension with 20 MW more heat from a coal-fired power plant
Pre-qualification documents can be requested from the tender agent via email at s4k_lot1@ic-group.org.
It is the only solar thermal project for district heating in the Balkans and the second-largest in Europe, according to the local authority in Prishtina. It will benefit 32,000 citizens in the neighborhoods of Tophane, Prishtina e Vjetër, Lakrishte, Kalabria and Mahalla e Muhaxherëve, the announcement reads.
The solar collectors will span 6.3 hectares in total while the storage pit will hold 380,000 cubic meters of water, the municipality added.
Project includes 20 MW extension of system with heat from coal plant
The other part of Solar4Kosovo 2 – Solar District Heating is for a 20 MW network extension, with supply from the existing CHP or cogeneration facility at the coal-fired Kosovo B power plant. It is in Obiliq as well. No increase in coal consumption is expected, the documentation reads. A further 20 MW network extension would be considered at a later stage.
Separately, Solar4Kosovo – Photovoltaic Plant is a project for a solar power system on a former coal ash dump near Prishtina. It would have a grid connection of up to 100 MW, translated to 120 MW in peak capacity.
In 2023, government-owned power utility Kosovo Energy Corp. (KEK) generated over 327 GWh for heating purposes within the cogeneration project with Termokos
Five other solar thermal projects are currently in the pipeline in the region. All the locations are actually in Serbia: Belgrade, Bor, Niš, Novi Sad and Pančevo, where the only operational solar thermal system is located.
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