PPA signed for Belgrade waste-to-energy facility

The consortium lead by SUEZ signs a 25-year contract to sell heat from the energy recovery of waste of the city of Belgrade. Other members of the consortium are Itochu Corporation and the Marguerite Fund.

As part of the public-private partnership (PPP) signed in 2017 between the city of Belgrade and the consortium Beo Čista Energija (BCE), to develop a project to recover waste from the inhabitants of the Serbian capital, the consortium lead by SUEZ has signed a contract that marks a new phase in the implementation of the project.

Awarded following an international call for tenders launched with the backing of the World Bank, the PPP provides for the design, construction, financing and operation of modern waste recovery facilities, including a new energy-from-waste facility and a recycling plant for construction and demolition waste.

BCE has committed to invest EUR 285 million (USD 320 million) to build the new infrastructures that will process 500,000 tonnes of municipal waste and 200,000 tonnes of construction and demolition waste each year. Operation will be handled by SUEZ and will start gradually from 2020.

The energy-from-waste facility will produce up to 30 MW of electricity, plus 56 MW of heat purchased by the municipal company Beogradske Elektrane; thus reducing the natural gas consumption of its Konjarnik plant by 80% in the cold season. In this way, the project will contribute to reducing the reliance on fossil fuel.

This PPP project also includes the gradual closure of the existing Belgrade landfill located in the immediate suburbs of Vinča, on the banks of the Danube. Opened in 1977, this 40-hectare landfill is one of the 50 largest active landfills in the world and the only one in Europe to be listed by the International Solid Waste Association 2. Its gradual closure will contribute to improving the environmental impact as well as the water quality of the Danube.