IFC, EBRD finances EUR300m to 103 MW Vinca waste-to-energy plant in Belgrade

France's Suez, Japan's Itochu and pan-European equity fund Marguerite Fund have secured a EUR300 million (US$329.35 million) non-recourse loan agreement with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Development Bank of Austria (OeEB) to finance, build and operate new waste management facilities as part of the EUR1.6 billion (US$1.756 billion) revenue, 25-year Public-Private Partnership concluded in 2017 with the City of Belgrade.

Planned infrastructure includes the construction of a 103 MW energy-from-waste facility, processing up to 43 tons of waste per hour, delivering power to the national grid and heat to Belgrade’s municipal district heating company, thus reducing its dependence on natural gas. Additional facilities include the construction of a waste recycling unit with a capacity of 200,000 tons per year of demolition waste and an engineered landfill with biogas recovery.

The consortium obtained all the required planning permissions to start construction, with full commercial operations planned to start in 2022.

All facilities will be operated by SUEZ under a 25-year, EUR400 million (US$438.908 million) Operation & Maintenance contract. Developed by the City of Belgrade with the support of IFC Advisory2, this innovative PPP is designed as a model for mid-income countries willing to bundle the closure of their dumpsites with the development of new infrastructures, under a commercially viable scheme tapping into private sector’s finance and expertise.

The new facilities will allow to close and remediate the current Belgrade dumpsite located in the immediate suburbs of Vinča. Opened in 1977 on the banks of the Danube, this 40-hectare dumpsite is one of the 50 largest active in the world and the only one in Europe to be listed by the International Solid Waste Association³. Remediation works are part of the investment plan and will significantly contribute to improving the environmental impact as well as the water quality of the Danube.

This project is in line with the ambition of the plan Shaping SUEZ 2030, which provides, with all its stakeholders, to restore and preserve the planet for a more sustainable environment.