SIDA grants EUR 2 million for Prijedor CHP plant

The contract for a donation in a biomass-powered district heating plant project in Prijedor was signed by the town’s mayor Marko Pavić and the representatives of European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and a. d. Toplana Prijedor, the plant operator.

Pavić stated the EBRD approved a EUR 7 million loan, guaranteed by the City of Prijedor, and that SIDA granted EUR 2 million for boiler reconstruction, Glas Srpske portal said.

The mayor added Toplana’s total income is BAM 4.5 million (EUR 2.3 million) per year, while heavy fuel oil cost is BAM 5.5 million.

The selection of the contractor and the subsequent construction is underway, Pavić said.

The investment is aimed to replace the existing equipment with woodchip-fired technology, including buildings and access roads, biomass storage and a preparation-inclusive external wood chipper, flue-gas stack and cleaning, flue-gas condenser, instrumentation and control, electric installations and ash handling, EBRD said.

The planned capacity is 20 MW of heat and 1 MW of electricity for district heating for over 13,000 people. The bank’s country office head Ian Brown stated the decision to support the project was made because wood isn’t used enough as fuel in Bosnia and Herzegovina despite the abundance of the resource.

“We now see Prijedor as a leader in this technology in BiH and we think this project is a good demonstration and a good example for other cities in the country,” he said.

Marie Bergström, SIDA’s country office chief and Swedish embassy’s representative, said the organization’s total grant for the project is EUR 2.8 million. Another ambition is that the funds provided by Sweden for technical cooperation will lead to increased transparency regarding the district heating company’s operations, the Embassy of Sweden said.

“Through specific procurement and supervision assistance, the company will gain significant experience and expertise, thus ensuring the successful implementation of the project. Sweden’s investment grant will be used to introduce individual heat substations and heat meters in a selected number of buildings and flats. This should enable people to control their heat consumption. It should also enable fairer billing,” the press release said.