Photo: Balkan Green Energy News
The second RENEXPO Western Balkans, a two-day trade fair with accompanying conferences, was held in Belexpocentar in Belgrade. Gabriela Bennemann, head of the economic section in the Embassy of Germany in Serbia, spoke at the event’s opening and stressed that 60 companies participated from 12 countries.
Renate Schindlbeck from the German international cooperation enterprise GIZ told the audience this institution has funded projects worth EUR 1.6 billion in Serbia since the year 2000, together with the KfW development bank. A significant part of activity is the organization’s help to establish a sustainable bioenergy market and energy efficiency projects in residential buildings, she said and added that GIZ supports the Government of Serbia in implementing the national efficiency action plan in the sector. An additional regional project is for a common monitoring system on energy savings in residential buildings, Renate Schindlbeck said. Improvement of efficiency in this area is key for the planned savings of 9% between 2008 and 2018, she stated.
Representatives of Serbian City of Kraljevo and three municipalities spoke of the results of GIZ-assisted efficiency projects for public buildings. The organization also held a workshop at the fair for straw combustion’s potential for the agricultural sector.
General Electric had its own conference, with a panel about integrated solutions for wind power generation, with experiences of company’s partners. GE’s representatives also delivered presentations about the company’s activities in municipal and industrial power generation and energy efficiency, as well as in the sector of biogas and special gasses. The company’s representatives spoke about energy services programme Sense ESCO, its progress and the challenges in the Western Balkans.
Myriam Dobrota, director of REECO, the company that organized Renexpo, awarded Renergy awards in three categories at the opening ceremony. Miloš Banjac, professor at University of Belgrade and assistant energy minister responsible for renewable energy sources and efficiency, was awarded for an outstanding personality. General Electric received recognition in the technology category for its global automation software for real-time operational intelligence. Renergy award for international performance went to Austria’s Global Hydro Energy.
Renexpo included presentations about banking in the renewables industry, public–private partnership and the legal issues in its tendering procedures. Visitors were informed about available renewables projects in the region.
