CTO Assessment - European Commission

SLOVENIA
Removing barriers to the
increased use of biomass
Contact: Jani Turk Msc • National Director of the GEF Project
Dimièeva 12 • 1000 Ljubljana • Slovenia • Tel/Fax: +386 1300 6995/91
E-mail: jani.turk@gov.si • Website: www.gov.si/aure
The focus of the project, sponsored by
UNDP and GEF, is on wood biomass based
district heating (BDH). The projects to be
supported will be selected through a «public
call for tenders». The objective of this
project is to facilitate the financing for at
least 3 BDH projects over its 3-year duration.
Based on the results of these projects
to promote further initiatives in other communities.
Main aims and motivations
The project aims to reduce and remove
barriers to the increased use of biomass.
It also supports the sustainable development
of the local economies by creating
new income and jobs.
There is also concern to reduce energy dependence
and to push for the prioritization
of RES issues in Slovenia.
Project details
To achieve the goal of exploiting the biomass
potential of Slovenia the GEF project
created many initiatives. Activities include
feasibility studies and business and finance
plans for at least 20 projects.
The Biomass Energy Fund was established
in 2002 to finance biomass projects. Training
seminars, workshops, public calls for
preparation, dissemination of information,
airtime 3-5 times per year on both television
and radio networks are amongst the
areas the project covers.
Overall evaluation
In bigger municipalities and ones with coherent
political interests the reaction was
positive. There are some problems, however,
in municipalities with political tensions.
The perception of biomass energy
use at a national level has also had some
negative review due to unsuccessful biomass
district heating projects in the past.
Main innovative feature
The project made use of private-public
pooling and involved the local community
through allowing them to invest in their
own heating substations. The Biomass
Energy Fund was also set up to distribute
project funds to those applying through
calls for tender.
Enabling factors
The Ministry of Environment, Spatial
Planning and Energy gave the project
grants and also helped in public awareness
campaigns along with the Agency for the
Efficient Use of Energy and the
INTERREG IIIB Project Alpenwood. The
Ministry of Finance provided both legal
and administrative support.
Challenges
There is a lack of a competent consulting
market to provide feasibility studies and
appropriate design systems. This was overcome
by training consultants and the GEF
project team demonstrating examples to
the local experts.
It is necessary to find sources of initial
investment and partners due to the poor
investment capacity of small municipalities.
Maintaining close contact with and
close involvement of four strategic partners
tackled this problem. One private
investor is already participating in the
financing of one of the projects proposed
for financial support within the GEF
project framework.
The EU Accession process has influenced
the legislative framework in that
administrative conditions for creation of
equity funds and financing of some small
activities are less favourable due to strict
EU environmental state aid support
regulations. This was overcome by liaising
closely with all the relevant ministries
throughout the designing process.
As a result, the project implementation
and financing models were approved as
they conformed to the standards required.
Replication Potential
The project in Slovenia is not a replication
in itself and has not yet been replicated.
The main activities are applicable for a
variety of projects due to their comprehensiveness
and horizontal structure. The successful
execution of the project in Slovenia
could stimulate replications in other Accession
countries.
Change in perception of implementing
RES projects (1999 – 2003)
The issues of sustainable energy are of a
greater concern today than in 1999 and
the obstacles to implementing RES
projects are decreasing. The population in
general is more willing to support such
projects and it is also getting easier to finance
them.
Key facts of the pr
3-5 Wood biomass district heating installations were planned and so far 1 has
been approved for financing in three months time
23 feasibility studies are currently in preparation
30 municipalities had signed the Letter of Interest in the project by the end of 2002.
The Biomass Energy Fund was established in 2002 to finance biomass projects.
RES Increase
This is not yet known. The estimated CO 2
emissions avoided as a result of the first
two large scale projects applying for the
GEF equity investment and Government
grant is 3,600/CO 2
/yr.
CTO - Showcase
85