Germans attracted by Serbian biomass - Five German companies interested in partnership with Serbian counterparts presented in Belgrade

Serbia has about 3.4 tonnes of oil equivalent of biomass, which accounts for 64% of all renewable sources of energy. German companies are interested in business cooperation in that area, it was said at the conference "Biomass and Biogas in Serbia".

Martin Knapp, the head of the Delegation of the German Economy to Serbia, said at the opening of expert conference, which was organized in cooperation with the Federal Ministry of Economy and Energy of Germany, that biomass in Serbia was the most important part of renewable sources of energy in Serbia.

He noted that the most promising ways of using biomass were to heat buildings and houses by using biomass pellets and briquettes, to utilize it as a fuel in thermal power stations instead of crude oil or coal, and to use agricultural and wood residues to generate electricity and cogenerate heat and power.

Lena Keller from the Federal Ministry of Economy and Energy of Germany said that a transition in energy use represented the driving force of each country's progress.

- In that way, dependence on imports can be reduced - Keller said and added that renewable energy sources could put an end to the use of nuclear plants in the world in the future.

She stressed that as far as energy was concerned, Germany was relying on two pillars: energy efficiency and the use of renewables.

- But that must be backed by a suitable infrastructure network as well as research and development in this field. Germany has special subsidies for that purpose.

According to her, Germany's goal is to cut the consumption of its primary energy in half until 2050.

Slobodan Cvetkovic, the manager of the Group for Sustainable Use of Natural Resources within the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection, reminded that Serbia should increase the use of renewable energy sources from 21% in 2009 to 27% by 2020.

The potential of agricultural and wooden biomass in Serbia is estimated at 1.7 million and 1.5 million tonnes, respectively.

And according to the words of Vojislav Mijic, the president of the Serbian Bioenergy Association SERBIO, the potential for use of biomass in Serbia is high, but the sources are mainly untapped, especially when it comes to agricultural biomass.

- We expect the use of biomass to grow in the following period, primarily in the generation of heat and, partially, electric power - said Miljic.

Five German companies arrived

Biomass utilization level in Serbia is around 66%, which is two thirds of the potential, but agricultural biomass is utilized very little.

This is the reason why the German competent ministry sent five companies to Serbia. These companies, which are primarily engaged in the production of biomass and biogas power plants, share the wish to meet business partners in Serbia, get familiar with the Serbian market and, possibly, close some deals in Serbia, but above all - to sell their technology.

The companies that are on a visit to Serbia are presented below:

- Strawtherm - engaged in the production of boilers using hay as a fuel for producing hot water, heating gas and steam. The heat power ranges between 400 and 4,000kW. When possible, components are produced in the country where the project is being implemented, while key components are made in Germany. Among the specific advantages of this company is the fact that it is one of very few effective heat producers that use hay as a fuel. The company exports products to Romania and France and is interested in the market of Serbia.

(Photo: tchara/shutterstock.com)

- A.P. Bioenergietechnik Gmbh - a leader for 25 years in the development, production and sale of combustion technologies for power plants that utilize every type of solid biomass as a fuel. Countries in which this company wants to be active in a short run are Turkey, Greece and Serbia.

- Ekcentec - an engineering office that provides services in the energy production and distribution sector. They are currently active in Turkey and Bosnia-Herzegovina, while the penetration of the markets of Serbia, Croatia, Iran, Iraq, the USA, the Near East, and South America is in the pipeline.

- New Eco-Tech Verfahrenstechnik - a company that has been developing engineering solutions for demanding drying processes since 2008. For example, they have solutions for drying the fermentation residues with the use of gases from power plants, drying the mud and crops, etc.

- Vecoplan - a manufacturer of machines for grinding raw materials since 1969. They are of the opinion that its competitors in Serbia have cheap products of lower quality. The company is interested in the markets of Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria, and they mainly enter new markets through local partnerships.