According to the city’s energy manager Slobodan Jerotic, the district heating system in Sabac will be supplied from a new 20 MW biomass power plant, that should be built in 2018, thus replacing natural gas as the energy source, which is three to four times more expensive than biomass.
The plant should be built as a private-public partnership and the city officials estimate that the project would cost about 5 million euros. According to the model, local district heating company will be supplied with thermal energy from that the biomass plant that will be built by a private company, which should also be in charge of fuel logistics.
Jerotic said that the city will leave to private partner to decide whether it will build heating plant only or a combined heat and power plant (CHPP), but the city is interested only in buying thermal energy. The plant would consume around 14,000 tons of biomass annually. According to the previous study by the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), there are some 50,000 tons of biomass available within 25 kilometers from the city of Sabac.
It is planned that the plant should be operational in October 2018. The tender for the selection of private partner will be published in July this year and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is hiring consultants to officially estimate the construction costs.
