Co-generative biomass-driven facility in Subotica underway- Investment of EUR 27 mil

The construction of the first co-generative biomass-driven facility in Serbia will start soon in Subotica and the investment totals EUR 27 mil.

The co-generative facility will generate heat and power and its capacity will be 10 MW of heat and five MW of energy.

The facility will annually generate 45.000 MWh of heat which is some 45% of the overall heat energy production and 35.000 MWh of electricity.

It is planned to create conditions in the upcoming period for summer heat consumption which will further optimize and improve facility energy efficiency, it was said on the presentation of results of the Feasibility Study for the construction of that facility.

The Study which was funded by the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation through KfW development bank for the needs of the Public Utility Company Suboticka toplana showed that the construction of the biomass-driven co-generative facility is feasible.

The planned facility will use biomass (harvest leftovers) as a main energy since Subotica is in the agricultural area rich in harvest leftovers.

Quantity of biomass essential for the annual production of co-generative facility totals 35.000 tons, and the overall quantity of biomass in Subotica which can be used for energy purposes totals 105.000 tons per year.

The new facility will contribute to development of environment quality because agricultural biomass is environmental and carbon-dioxide (CO2) neutral fuel. Total CO2 annual emission reduction that will be generated totals 42.300 tons.

The return on investment period is 12 years and it has been estimated that Suboticka toplana will generate annual savings of some EUR 1,9 mil for using biomass instead of natural gas.

The Project Manager of KfW development bank, Jens Hagen, said that the Feasibility Study is a pilot project for the "Development of biomass market in Serbia", a project totaling EUR 110 mil. Co-generative biomass-driven facility will significantly contribute to gas import decrease and Suboticka toplana will generate additional profit from sale of electricity through feed-in tariff, Hagen said.