Major sustainable energy and environmental projects of Serbia’s capital announced

The first ever “ENERGY WEEK – Nedelja energije” kicked off today in Belgrade, as a part of #EUSEW2017 EU Sustainable Energy Week, an initiative of the European Commission taking place across European continent during May and June.

The City of Belgrade presented its major sustainable energy and environment protection projects during the first day of Energy week or in Serbian language  Nedelja energije initiative.

The goal of the Energy week is to draw attention to the efficient use of energy and resources, as well as to exchange views, discuss challenges and present solutions. Energy week is organized by the Central European Development Forum – CEDEF and the Department of Energy of the City of Belgrade, under the auspices of the City of Belgrade and the Ministry of Mining and Energy of Serbia.

At the opening ceremony, the Belgrade’s officials stressed out that local government is committed to development of renewable energy, energy efficiency, environment protection projects and the climate change mitigation and adaptation initiatives and measures.

As the key projects, the capital’s officials highlighted the following projects: the construction of the heating transmission pipeline to transport hot water from power plant in nearby municipality of Obrenovac to Belgrade, the city’s energy efficiency fund, the ESCO project on energy savings in public lighting, construction of a wastewater treatment plant, as well as resolving issue of landfill in Vinča.

The Belgrade Mayor Siniša Mali said that bids for the project for the landfill in Vinča will be opened on July 6 following the official open call to be issued on Friday, June 2. The project should include the treatment of municipal waste and heat and electricity production.

“This is a huge project worth  EUR 300 million, which completely changes the city in terms of environmental awareness,” he said.

Agreement on hot water transmission pipeline expected soon 

Mali said that an agreement on the construction of  heating pipeline from Obrenovac to Belgrade is expected to be signed in the next few days. Through the pipeline the hot water from the power plant TENT in Obrenovac will be transported to the heating plants in New Belgrade. Agreement on the construction of the pipeline will be signed with the Chinese company China Power.

“This is an investment worth EUR 207 million and it means that the hot water from TENT will not be thrown in the river. Instead, it will be transported to heating plants and then used for heating of Belgrade,” he said, adding that this investment will pay off within five to six years.

Mali said that he also discussed with Chinese partners the construction of a wastewater plant in Veliko Selo, a village near Belgrade. The project value is estimated at EUR 269 million.

“We have given ourselves a deadline of one month to complete the deal,” he added.

City’s Fund for energy saving in buildings  

Mali said that the City of Belgrade has founded a fund to increase energy efficiency and that RSD 120 million was allocated in this year’s budget for this purpose.

He said that several public buildings will be renovated with this money in order to see how much energy savings it will generate. He announced that from the next year private buildings will be also entitled to participate in this initiative.

The Secretary of Energy in the city of Belgrade,  Marko Stojanović said that the Belgrade accounts for around 40% of total energy consumption in Serbia, while it produces  around 50% of total energy. Stojanović said that the energy efficiency fund is directly focused on housing, stating that more than 320,000 apartments in Belgrade are connected to district heating system.

According to him, the Fund was established with a goal to enable private owners, banks and companies to more easily engage in such projects. Under this system the city will take responsibility for all phases of the projects, from design to professional supervision, and citizens will be able to pay off investment in the longer period.

First ESCO project in public lighting 

Stojanović emphasized the importance of ESCO project for public lighting savings to be implemented in the suburban municipalities. There, as he said, the potential for savings is much higher than in the central municipalities of Belgrade, since the suburban municipalities have old technology and about 60,000 light bodies to be replaced.

He recalled that the City of Belgrade signed a contract with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) on consulting services and that the study is completed, which means that all the technical and economic parameters of the project are known.

“At the end of this year or at the beginning of 2018, we expect the first phase of an international public tender to to take placed. We want, in the second phase, to ensure the participation of the most prominent companies,” he said.

Stojanović said that various solutions will be applied in this project depending on the situation in the municipalities, adding that combination of existing technologies in the field with LED lighting is also possible.

“Next year is the year scheduled for implementation. We expect it to be the first real ESCO model within PPP,” he said, adding that the ROI period will be from 10 to 12 years.