Minister Antić otvoril v Botoši závod na výrobu bioenergie: Kompletný „zelený“ systém
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.
Deputy Mayor of the City of Zrenjanin, Duško Radišić, emphasised that the investment was important for many reasons.
- 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.