Republic of Srpska interested in construction of wastewater treatment plant with Slovenians

The Republic of Srpska (RS) is interested in the construction of a wastewater treatment plant modeled upon Grmov Vrh plant in Slovenia.

The delegation of the Republic of Srpska led by the minister of industry, energy and mining Petar Đokić visited Velenje in Slovenia to meet the representatives of the company Gorenje and discuss opportunities for future cooperation, the official website of the Government of the Republic of Srpska reported.

The representatives of the Republic of Srpska and several cities and municipalities in this entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) visited the wastewater treatment plant Grmov Vrh. Thanks to the plant, 70,000 residents from four Slovenian municipalities are supplied with drinking water, reports RTRS. The plant is fully self-sustaining, environmentally friendly and energy efficient.

The plant was put into operation in 2015 with a small hydropower plant (SHPP) built within it. The purpose of the SHPP is to generate electricity for the plant’s needs thus creating a sustainable system which, in addition to drinking water, generates electricity and reduces operation costs to the minimum. Surplus electricity generated by the SHPP is injected into the grid.

The delegation also visited the power plant in Velenje, which produces two-thirds of total electricity consumption in Slovenia, while a portion of the generated electricity is exported.

In addition to showing their interest in the construction of a wastewater treatment plant in RS, representatives of the entity discussed other forms of cooperation with the Gorenje management. Minister Đokic said that Gorenje is already present in the RS market and that the Government would like to see some of the components for their products being made in the entity.

The minister of economic affairs and regional cooperation of the Republic of Srpska Zlatan Klokić said that the experience of Velenje will be useful for the entity since certain projects implementation in this Slovenian municipality was partly financed by the European Union (EU).

The mayor of Velenje Bojan Kontič said that this municipality was once the most polluted in Slovenia, but now it is among the cities with the cleanest air. He added that there is a possibility of cooperation on joint projects that can be financed by the EU.