Partners of the BIOSOL project organized a kick-off meeting on 26 September at the Šabac Center for Professional Development.
The BIOSOL project, contracted within the 2nd Call for Proposals, aims to support sustainable energy in cross-border regions while increasing infrastructure capacities. Project partners – City of Šabac, City of Nova Gradiška and LAG Zapadna Slavonija – plan to achieve this goal by constructing alternative energy power plants, promoting use of sustainable energy sources and researching potentials of sustainable energy in the cross-border area of Croatia and Serbia.
The kick-off meeting was a chance to reflect on previous experiences of cities of Šabac and Nova Gradiška, as well as their long-term commitment to raise the share of energy produced from renewable sources. “There is a lot we can do locally in cities and municipalities and we are just doing it with our friends from Croatia. After a successful flood defense project, this is the second one in which we are working with Nova Gradiška. My colleague Vinko Grgić [Mayor of the City of Nova Gradiška]is full of understanding of what we do in Šabac. We are together in a project that allows us to have cheaper heating, new business models and an Academy, where we will educate young people on how to relate to the environment”, said Nebojša Zelenović, Mayor of the City of Šabac.
In addition to constructing a solar power plant and a biomass plant, BIOSOL highlights the need to educate about the importance of renewable energy sources. Among other project activities, the partners will set up an Academy for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Sources which will position project partners as regional centers for exchange of experiences in this field.
Altogether, the meeting indicated not only plans and BIOSOL’s next steps for their energy efficient innovations, but also the importance of cities and organizations working across borders to jointly use sustainable energy sources.
The BIOSOL project, full title “Use of biomass and solar energy as renewable sources for sustainable and efficient energy for stand-alone complexes with a social purpose”, is implemented by partners from Croatia and Serbia within the Programme Priority Axis 2: Protecting the environment and biodiversity, improving risk prevention and promoting sustainable energy and energy efficiency. The total budget of the project is 981.616,01 EUR and the total EU co-financing is 834.373,59 EUR of ERDF and IPA II funds. The project started on 1 July 2019 and will finish on 31 March 2021.
