The 2nd National Workshop took place in Zagreb on 18th January 2018 and brought together the ENERGY BARGE project partners with Croatian stakeholders from the fields of biomass/bioenergy and inland waterway transport. The main objective of ENERGY BARGE, which is funded by the European Regional Development Fund, is to foster sustainable usage of biomass for energetic purposes in the Danube Region and thereby increasing the share of environmentally friendly biomass transports on the Danube.

Croatia, having almost 50% of its land area covered by forest areas (largely state-owned), is relying mostly on woody biomass to cover its bioenergy needs. Recently, due to public incentives and co-financing, several biomass powered CHP plants have been built with an installed capacity of currently 24.5 MW.

In 2015 wooden pellets were produced in 15 facilities. The total installed pellet production capacity amounts to 376,900 t per year. Around 89% of the total pellet production was exported, while little was placed on the domestic market. Wooden briquettes capacity is estimated to 61,400 t per year, while its actual production is usually done periodically depending on the feedstock availability – basically waste from the wood processing industry. Around 66% of the total briquettes production was exported during 2015.

The discussion forum and key note presentations during the National Workshop opened interesting perspectives, as various participants from the Croatian biomass/bioenergy sector attended the event. A broad range of topics, covering several sectors of the biomass industry, were presented: production and utilisation of different biomass feedstocks like wood and miscanthus, but also constraints regarding freight transports on the Sava River. A lively discussion evolved and the ENERGY BARGE project consortium is pleased to have explored the opportunities for biomass utilisation in Croatia with regional experts.

Two site visits at the CHP power plant BE-TO Sisak and the Sisak shipyard and port completed the program. The biomass fired (wood chips) cogeneration power plant BE-TO Sisak has an electrical capacity of 3 MWe and a thermal capacity of 10 MWt. The main purpose of BE-TO Sisak is to generate thermal energy for the district heating system of the city of Sisak and process steam for industrial customers. The power plant went into operation in 2017.

If you are interested to receive further information about the ENERGY BARGE project, please visit the project website, where also the presentations of the workshop can be downloaded.

The next National Workshop will be held in Bucharest/Romania in June 2018.