New biomass boiler houses to reduce heating bills in the cities of Melitopol, Pershotravensk – a way to reduce heating bills
Czech-Ukrainian consortium invests into a new biomass boiler houses to reduce heating bills in the cities of Melitopol, Pershotravensk, also Sviatohirsk and Lyman are planned
In October the representatives of an international investment consortium formed by RSJ (Czech Republic) and Isatex (Ukraine), signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the Implementation of Biomass Boiler Houses with the Ukrainian cities of Melitopol, Pershotravensk, Svyatogorsk, and Lyman. The main signing ceremony took place on 21st October at the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Kyiv. The Memorandum with the City of Melitopol was signed on 19th October. The ceremony in Kyiv was held in the presence of the Czech Deputy Ambassador to Ukraine, Mr. Jiří Preclík.
The documents state that the investors will build straw-burning boilers in Melitopol and Pershotravensk, with an output of 10 MWth on each. RSJ and Isatex also consider developing biomass boilers in the cities of Svyatohirsk and Lyman. The “green” heat will be supplied to the municipal heating companies.
The documents state that the investors will build straw-burning boilers in Melitopol and Pershotravensk, with an output of 10 MWth on each. The “green” heat will be supplied to the municipal heating companies.
RSJ and Isatex also consider developing biomass boilers in the cities of Svyatohirsk and Lyman.
The “green” heat will be produced by burning over 11 000 tonnes of baled straw annually in each 10 MWth unit. This way, around 11 000 000 UAH will go to the straw suppliers, including local farmers. RSJ and their partners have extensive experience working with straw: over the past 10 years, they have burnt over 2 million straw bales (this is almost 1 million tonnes). For the manufacture of the boiler, it is planned to cooperate with local companies, so that the main technology will be produced in Ukraine under the Czech project and supervision. The new boilers will be a reliable source of heat for municipal needs for at least 20 years.
A 10-MWth boiler fuelled by straw will produce 35 000 GCal of “green” heat energy per year. Expansion by adding another boiler will be considered in all the cities. The price of purchased heat energy will be equal to 90% of the heat production tariff applicable for the municipal district heating company in the respective city and period.
Each 10 MWth boiler would save 7700 tonnes of CO2eq for Melitopol and 11 500 tonnes of CO2eq for Pershotravensk making the cities more environmentally friendly. The heat produced from locally sourced straw will replace about 4 000 000 cubic metres of gas and 7 000 tons of coal every year.
Project cost is estimated at 4 000 000 EUR for one boiler house and 500 000 EUR for the establishment of a straw supply chain.
In addition, unlike gas, the price of which is closely linked to world markets, biomass fuel can provide more stable heat prices. Moreover, using the locally sourced fuel helps to implement a circular economy (“energy island concept”) and provides energy independence for the communities.
This way, Melitopol will become less dependent on gas imports from other Ukrainian regions as well as from abroad. The heat production in Pershotravensk will be secured even after the local coal mines are closed down without a need to connect to the gas grid.
The Memorandum signed by: Ivan Fedorov, Mayor of Melitopol; Oksana Vinnytska, Mayor of Pershotravensk; Libor Winkler, CEO of RSJ Investments; Alex Fokardi, CEO of Isatex Invest Group; Olena Jalsukova, Director of Teplo-Melitopol; Iryna Kryvenko, Director of Pershotravensk Communal Enterprise.
