Progress in the use of bioenergy in Slovakia
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A typical forest landscape in its natural state in Banská Bystrica. Photo: Metla/Juha Laitila. |
Banská Bystrica in central Slovakia is one the most forested regions in the country. In the last two years, the consumption of woodchips in the region has increased by 80 per cent as a result of new investments in bioenergy.
Almost 24 per cent of Slokavia’s forests are located in the Banská Bystrica region. It has been selected as one of the target regions of the PromoBio project coordinated by Metla, as it is well placed to increase the use of forest energy. The project has published a report (pdf) on the use and potential of bioenergy in the region. This report will serve as the basis for a regional bioenergy programme to be created for the Banská Bystrica region.
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| Black locust is a promising species for energy plantations. The photo shows stands of different ages. Photo: Ján Ilavský. |
Studies show that a quarter of the Banská Bystrica region’s bioenergy potential is in its forests. The annual volume of energy biomass available from the forests is approximately 302,000 cubic metres. In addition, nearly 6 per cent (23,300 hectares) of the region’s agricultural land is no longer cultivated, and the use of this land for energy plantations could generate 250,000 tonnes of energy biomass every year. The amount of biomass available from by-products of the region’s wood processing companies has been estimated at about 274,000 tonnes.
Dramatic increase in the use of woodchips
In the Banská Bystrica region, forest energy is mainly used in the form of traditional firewood and woodchips. The use of chips has increased noticeably in recent years: in 2010, consumption was 250,000 tonnes, but in 2011, production and consumption had risen to 450,000 tonnes as a result of new investments in bioenergy. Currently, there are nine large companies operating in the region, and their annual consumption of chips ranges from 6,400 to 135,000 tonnes.
Several small and medium-sized boiler houses combusting woody biomass have been built in the Banská Bystrica region in the last few years. The most significant undertaking to date has been the CHP plant in Zvolen (Zvolenská teplárenská, a.s.). In this project, an old brown coal plant was modernised to allow the co-firing of low-sulphur brown coal (60–75 per cent) and chips (25–40 per cent).
The main bottlenecks in the development of bioenergy use in the region include the lack of a regional bioenergy strategy, a shortage of investments, and insufficient knowledge of bioenergy potential due to scant resources for education and communications.
Further information
- Researcher Elina Välkky, tel. +358 29 532 5188, elina.valkky(a)metla.fi
- State-of-the-art of the regional bioenergy development in the Banská Bystrica region, Slovakia (pdf)
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Promobio is supported by the European Commission under the Intelligent Energy – Europe Program. The sole responsibility for the content of this media release lies with the authors. It does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Union. Neither the EACI nor the European Commission are responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein. |
