Renewables

Cooperative in Croatia supplies biomass power plant with olive tree waste

Cooperative Croatia biomass power plant olive tree waste

Photo: Ulrike Leone from Pixabay

Published

May 17, 2021

Country

Comments

0

Share

Published:

May 17, 2021

Country:

Comments:

0

Share

Before the agreement with the Energana Benkovac biomass-fueled plant, agricultural cooperative Maslina i vino had no other solution but to burn much of the waste from its olive trees and vines.

GEEN Holding’s Energana Benkovac will source hundreds of tons of biomass for its combined heat and power (CHP) plant per year from a nearby producer of olive oil and wine. Agricultural cooperative Maslina i vino from Polača in Croatia’s coastal region of Dalmatia agreed to participate in a pilot project for the waste from its 12,000 olive trees and 50,000 vines.

Only the thicker pieces of wood were distributed for heating until the start of the pilot project

Until recently, the cooperative was destroying much of the fuel that is now sent to the biomass facility by burning it in the field as there was no alternative. Its Project Manager and Director Radoslav Bobanović said only the thicker pieces of wood were distributed for heating.

In his words, an olive tree discards between 30 and 40 kilograms of biomass every year compared to 300 to 600 grams per vine. The cooperative said the biomass includes waste from its fig orchards.

Cooperative in Croatia biomass power plant olive tree waste
Photo: Maslina i vino

Bobanović told Balkan Green Energy News he is aware of the effect of carbon dioxide emissions on the environment and that Maslina i vino was looking for a solution since 2010. It was examining the possibility to give the fuel to schools and retirement homes for free, but there was no breakthrough as they would have to adapt their heating facilities, he asserted.

The project manager added the local authority and entrepreneurs that can supply biomass need to find a way to deposit and process agricultural waste with the help of the Government of Croatia and that energy producers could participate and cover some of the costs. He said Maslina i vino, or MasVin, uses its olive pomace as a fertilizer now but that it would be more effective to turn it into heating fuel.

Stakeholders need to find a way for depositing agricultural waste

Energana Benkovac, active since October 2018, has an electricity production capacity of almost 5 MW. Czech renewable energy producer GEEN Holding also has an equivalent CHP unit in Županja in Croatia’s northeast. It operates several photovoltaic and hydropower plants in its homeland and in Slovakia and Georgia.

Comments (0)

Be the first one to comment on this article.

Enter Your Comment
Please wait... Please fill in the required fields. There seems to be an error, please refresh the page and try again. Your comment has been sent.

Related Articles

Greece PPC Renewables two solar power plants f 250 MW

Greece’s PPC Renewables finishing two solar power plants of 250 MW in total

29 March 2023 - PPC Renewables said it would complete two photovoltaic facilities in Greece's coal hubs by the end of the month

power utilities western balkans eu ets smissions co2 cbam

Workshop on emissions trading: cooperation of regional utilities toward energy transition

29 March 2023 - Top managers of five state-owned power companies from BiH, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia have discussed cooperation

seepex intraday market launch

All set for intraday electricity market in Serbia – next step is to join single European market

29 March 2023 - The opportunities for electricity buyers and sellers were presented by the representatives of SEEPEX, BSP SouthPool, and European Commodity Clearing

EU deal ban sales new diesel gasoline cars 2035

EU reaches deal to ban sales of new diesel, gasoline cars in 2035

29 March 2023 - EU energy ministers agreed on a ban on new cars and vans running on gasoline and diesel starting in 2035, but with a notable exception