Minister Antić opened a Bio-Energy Plant in Botoš: A Complete 'Green'' System

Today the Minister of Mining and Energy of the Government of the Republic of Serbia , Aleksandar Antić,has opened the  power plant “Bioelektra”in Botoš , the first plant for  the production of electrical energy from biogas based on biomass of various origin in this region. At the  first stage the investment is worth 2.5 million €, it was supported by the Government of the Kingdom of Holland with the  688,000 € grand and the grant of 275,000 dollars  funded through “Reducing Barriers to Accelerate Development of Biomass Markets in Serbia” project  financed by the Global Environment Fund, implemented by UNDP Organisation in partnership with the Ministry of Mining and Energy.

 

 

The power plant  was built by “Bioelektra” Company  Botoš, owned by Branislav Pomoriški, as the continuation of the activities  of “Mladost” Company from the same village, which cultivates about a thousand  ha of land, including two harvests, thank to very good and functional irrigation system. The development of the power plant  includes  three stages, each of them  of   600 kW capacity, with expectations of annual electrical energy production of the each  stage of  of about 5 million kW. As the primary product the power plant will produce electrical energy taken by EPS, and the secondary production will be heating energy used for heating or cooling and the production of high quality organic fertilizers. Raw-materials are provided by  the Company itself or by cooperative producers.    

 

 

Opening this very important facility, Minister Aleksandar Antić said that it was a truly intelligent  project with zero  waste”.

- We have, actually, the land of several hundreds  hectares, with  agriculture production and irrigation system, with two harvests so there is enough biomass which, not affecting the entire system, provides taw materials necessary for the operation of such a plant- said the Minister.

- We have electrical energy as a main product, and also heating energy and organic fertilazers as by-product which are used for the same soil. This means that we have a complete circle which is a perfect example of link between “green energy” and “green economy”. We are  going to support such projects - said Antić.

 

 

He added that although that is a small power plant it was important as a  pilot project which could set an example for the whole Serbia which  would contribute to the  goals of our country  which as  a member of Energy Community of South East Europe has the obligation to provide 27%  of total energy  production form alternative sources by the  year 2020.

 

 

His Excellency, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Holland  in Serbia, Hendrik van den Dol, attended the opening ceremony who said that the power plant looked like some science fiction  facility”. 

- This is an excellent example of what innovative Holland technology can bring to Serbia. We have a plant which will produce more than one MW in future and this is an example of what  we all do in Holland and how we do it. It is about sustainability, about circle economy, recycling, actually it is about innovative economic development.  We had funds for allocated for  such  a project and here, in  “Mladost” Company, and thank to the  cooperation  with the Ministry of Mining  and Energy led by Aleksandar Antić we supported this project showing that such projects can me implemented in Serbia. On the other hand we wanted to support  the Serbian economy and energy sector to become more sustainable and efficient – explained the Ambassador from Holland.

 

  - Our local government supports  this  kind of  energy production including the option of  green house heating, i.e. for a new production circle as well as public buildings, in this  case, Botoš school and the new sport hall, the hotel  which works again. The plan is to build new tourist capacities and swimming  pools. All this  is  a part of  our scheme to develop rural areas, to provide new jobs, upgrade infrastructure and stop   population migrations from rural areas- said Radišić.

 

 

The  opening ceremony  of bio power plant in Botoš  was  also attended by  the representatives of  Dutch company “Host”, the Contractor and the representatives of the Erste Bank, the leader in financing of alternative energy business activities  by credit support  of the  construction of the power plant.