Photo: GGE
GGE ESCO, a subsidiary of the Slovenian energy services company GGE, has successfully completed the installation of two biomass boilers for the ELTID Tannery in Pančevo.
In addition to planning the project, installing the equipment, providing maintenance services and guaranteeing functionality during a five-year period, GGE ESCO has secured financing for the project. This represents a completely new model for providing energy services on the Serbian market, reads the press release published by GGE.
In the future, the ELTID Tannery from Pančevo will use hot water obtained from the biomass boilers for leather processing. This serves as a good example of how to efficiently utilise renewable energy sources in the industry sector.
The installation of two biomass boilers with a total capacity of 1.1 MW is the result of the cooperation between the Pančevo tannery and GGE ESCO, the Belgrade branch of the Slovenian energy services company. The new solution provides a convenient source of thermal energy which will be used for the production processes in the tannery, primarily for the supply of hot water for tanning, dyeing and drying of leather.
“We decided to install new biomass boilers because of our increased workload and our plans to improve the production processes, but also because it is a clean and green technology. The model of cooperation offered by GGE included the financing of the project and this was very interesting because the resources that we would otherwise have invested in this project remain available for our further development,” says Stanko Mraković, owner of the ELTID Tannery, a company that exports leather to Italy, Russia, Croatia, Slovenia and cooperates with local companies.
From technical expertise to projects financing
The two woodchip-fired boilers, each with a capacity of 550kW and an energy efficiency of 90%, were installed by GGE as part of a turnkey project. GGE handled everything from the development of the project to its implementation. By providing financing for the project, in addition to the usual energy services, GGE has positioned itself as an innovator and a unique company on the Serbian market. To implement the project, GGE installed boilers from reputed Austrian manufacturer Gilles. Over the next five years, GGE will carry out maintenance and guarantee the functionality of the boilers.
“To choose the best possible solution for each of our clients, that is to say, to choose a solution that fits their real needs, is an imperative for us at GGE. We believe that this model of providing energy services, which in addition to technical expertise provides financing for projects, will be interesting to a large number of companies in Serbia that want to achieve savings in energy consumption through the implementation of clean and energy-efficient technologies,” explains Srđan Šobat, project manager at GGE, one of the fastest growing ESCO companies in Southeast Europe.
Taking into consideration that biomass is an ecological and carbon-neutral fuel, the newly installed boiler will have a positive impact on the environment in Pančevo, one of Serbia’s most polluted cities. On a yearly basis, using biomass systems will reduce CO₂ emissions by 1,226 tonnes – the quantity of carbon dioxide that would be released were the plant to use oil fuel instead.
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