The Serbian state power company, Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS), has announced a tender for a feasibility study and preliminary design for the construction of a combined heat and power biomass plant (CHP) in Zrenjanin, in northern Serbia.

According to the plan, the CHP plant will be built in the compound of so-called new facility of the thermal power and heating plant in Zrenjanin, in the industrial zone of the city. The thermal power and heating plant in Zrenjanin operates within the EPS branch, Panonske TE-TO.

The offers must be submitted by 10.00 on August 30, 2017, according to the invitation which is available in Serbian at the EPS website, as well as the websites of Panonske TE-TO, and the Public Procurement Office.

The plan is to build a biomass plant, including access to it, and a storage facility for biomass in quantities which would be enough to supply the plant for seven days, if the plant is operating 24 hours a day at maximum capacity.

The planned maximum annual consumption is up to 40,000 tons of biomass from agriculture, primarily cereal straw and sunflower stems. The possibility to replace up to 50 percent of the energy value of agricultural biomass with straw or timber from certain types of plants, such as basket willow, Paulownia or silver grass, must be foreseen.

The plant should be designed for a maximum heat output of 10.5 MWt , 24 hours a day and 4.320 hours a year, with the fastest investment repayment as possible.

The thermal power and heating plant in Zrenjanin has not been in use for the past several years mainly due to the price of energy fuels. A preliminary feasibility study with a general project for CHP plants on biomass was prepared in 2013.

Zrenjanin is located in the province of Vojvodina, known for its developed agriculture.