Mining and energy minister Aleksandar Antić signed grant contracts with representatives of six companies for construction of biomass- or biogas-fired combined heat and power (CHP) facilities in the total value of USD 1.6 million (EUR 1.49 million), following a public call by the ministry. It said three facilities will be installed in Bač, and one each in Aleksinac and near Alibunar and Zrenjanin. Antić said overall power capacity is 6.32 MW, and that yearly generation is expected to be 47 GWh a year of heat and about the same amount of electricity. Total investment is EUR 21.15 million, according to a statement on the ministry’s website.
Evaluation commission of representatives of the aforementioned and the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection of Serbia worked with the technical support and the participation of the observers from United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the organization said.
Projects were evaluated according to the criteria of environmental viability of the fuel, level of development of the region where the investment is made, how modern the applied technology is, efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the plant and full utilization of technical potentials, the statement said.
Grants are provided through the EUR 28.42 million project ‘Reducing Barriers to Accelerate the Development of Biomass Markets in Serbia’ financed by the Global Environment Fund (GEF) and implemented and co-funded by UNDP, in cooperation with the ministries. Individual projects get up to 15% of investment value, or the maximum of EUR 256,000, as long as total project investment value exceeds EUR 1.18 million. Thirty percent of the allocated funds will be awarded as the contracts are signed, and the remainder will be paid after the investment is complete.
UNDP’s energy portfolio manager Maja Matejić said the organization recently prepared an energy efficiency project with the Ministry of Mining and Energy. The endeavour is worth EUR 2.33 million and is also funded by GEF, for a total investment of EUR 18.63 million. It is based on efficiency legislation’s implementation at the local level, she added.
