The kick-off meeting of the project ENERGY BARGE, funded under the INTERREG Danube Transnational Programme, took place on 28th February in Linz, Austria. The ​project aims to build a Green Energy and Logistics Belt throughout the Danube region by bringing together stakeholders from the logistics and the bioenergy sector. It has started officially on 1st of January 2017 and will last until June 2019.

ENERGY BARGE combines a strong and geographically well-balanced consortium of partners from 7 countries which are bringing together key actors along the entire value chain, Danube ports as well as relevant public authorities and policy stakeholders.

The purpose of ENERGY BARGE is to exploit the great potential for green energy in the Danube region in a sustainable way, considering the Renewable Energy Directive 2009/28/EC, the EU2020 climate goals and EU Danube Region Strategy’s objective.

The meeting began with the presentation of the main objectives of the project by Mr. Thies Fellenberg from the Agency for Renewable Resources (FNR - Germany). Mr. Fellenberg underlined that aim of the project to increase the sustainable deployment of biomass for energy production in the Danube region through secure, efficient and sustainable supply chains along the river. This will be done by analyzing the biomass availability and potential as well as the Danube ports infrastructure for the transport of biomass. In the frame of the project pre-feasibility pilot studies and pilot actions will be conducted in close cooperation with regional biomass producers and suppliers.

Furthermore 2 external speakers, Mr. Schlagitweit from proPellets Austria and Mr. Jina from the First-DDSG Logistics Holding GmbH, were invited to give key note presentations regarding the energetic use of biomass and logistics in the Danube region. Mr. Schlagitweit outlined the growing European market for wood pellets and its potential for cargo on the Danube. The possibility of shipping the wood pellets from the area of the Black Sea to Austria makes access to a huge potential. There is a strong production of wood pellets in Russia and Romania. Bulgaria and the Ukraine are also expanding their production in this area. Consequently this provides supply security, as the pellet consumption in Germany and Austria is increasing, but the local production is limited and cannot fulfill the demand.

Mr. Jina gave an overview to the company First-DDSG Holding GmbH. He demonstrated the routes of transport on the Danube waterway and also gave an impression on the dimensions and capacity of different boats used by his company. Through this presentation, the project consortium has been given an impression of the possibilities of water transport and its limitations. The lectures from the external stakeholders have shown how important the transport of goods on the Danube is and that the project meets current requirements.

The next project meeting of Energy Barge will take place at the end of June in Ruse, Bulgaria.

Please press HERE to download the presentations of the kick-off meeting.